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With a busy schedule you’d need a guidebook to navigate, I never have enough time in the day to connect with everyone I want to. Oftentimes, by the time I remember that I wanted to call a colleague with a quick thought, it’s two in the morning and my puppies are crying for me to come to bed. Once in a while, though, I see something that is riveting.
I recently attended Art Basel 2017 and was deeply impacted by the connections I formed and the beautiful artwork abounding throughout Miami Beach. I had a cathartic experience when my eyes settled on the work of Italian artist El Gato Chimney. My excitement must have been obvious as I was captivated by the color and images in his work.
The painting I fixated on depicts a swan with a community of burning birdhouses on its back. Held down by ropes, and bleeding from its battle, the resolute swan won’t succumb to its restraints and fights to gain its flight and freedom. A different painting similarly portrays a bird with smoking birdhouses on its back, the difference being that this bird and its houses are already airborne.
According to El Gato Chimney, the importance is that each person gathers their own meaning from observing the work. The paintings do not symbolize a specific event; rather, they represent the idea that we can all overcome adversity through our own strength. “The attached pieces are part of a series I’m focusing on lately, based on a mix of natural history and popular folklore,” said El Gato Chimney during a conversation with NAWRB. “Both works represent the will to react to adversities, thanks to the birds’ baggage of experiences and knowledge.”
There’s a sense of urgency in these paintings that is immediately palpable, my impression being that the swan is the only barrier protecting its community from harm. I see the swan as a representation of women and the birdhouses as women’s homeownership. Interestingly, there is no fire in the paintings, only smoke. While the birdhouses are endangered, they have not yet been consumed by the flames. There is still hope. As women, we must support and protect one another, as well as our opportunities for advancement and upward mobility.
In NAWRB’s mission to advance women’s economic growth, I find myself balancing data with feeling in order to capture and communicate the emotional aspect, something I felt so strongly studying the paintings.
Pervasive gender gaps hinder women’s power to create the lives they want. While we’ve undoubtedly made historic progress, gender equality remains under threat; and understanding the blood, sweat and tears behind the women’s movement is indispensable to fully grasping its significance. How can you truly support a movement if you do not fully understand it?
Women are more than numbers on a balance sheet, and every success represents the advancement of a women’s movement that has had to dismantle prejudiced systems and boy’s clubs for centuries. Women’s gender equality isn’t simply about benefiting the economy or improving companies’ financial performance; it’s equally about recognizing the presence and role of gender-based imbalances and acknowledging the incredible progress revolutionary women have willed into existence.
For me, El Gato Chimney’s painting encapsulates a message, a feeling, a personal mission of mine and one of NAWRB’s leading initiatives. My connection was immediate and before I knew it, I was sending a photo to my staff and excitedly asking for their thoughts.
While we remain far from gender parity in the United States and around the world, our community has not been engulfed by the fires that surround us. In the face of adversity, we continue creating a better tomorrow for women.