OCALA, FL (352today.com) – The depth of artist April Fitzpatrick’s exhibition will have you looking at pineapples in a whole new way.
“Spiky Truths, Sweet Solutions: Pineapples Allegories for Healing Justice,” is on display at the Mary Sue Rich Community Center at Reed Place now through December 2.
The exhibit is an entry into pineapple symbolism, and how Fitzpatrick uses the pineapple at the intersection of mental health, public health and healing.
“It’s an up-close, in-depth experience,” said Fitzpatrick. “How we can use the things around us to curate conversations, think about future possibilities, and not keep those locked in, the richness of history and culture of what we’ve been exposed to thus far. I used the pineapple as a symbol as a metaphor to break into those conversations.”
The exhibit draws people in intentionally, where the observer can go on a sensory adventure, with the color of the pineapple, the fruit itself, what people are carrying within themselves and their relationship to the fruit.
“It invites them to explore some spiky truths about the pineapple at the intersection of colonialism, plantation slavery, and the insinuating quality that symbols can hold when we don’t consider the multiplicity of the meanings that they carry, and when we just allow one narrative to control the story,” explained Fitzgerald.
“Sweet solutions” is how Fitzpatrick ends the exhibit, emerging from those “spiky truths.”
Fitzgerald says it’s an exploration of how art therapy, the practice of art, the observation of art and the sharing of art can improve community cohesion, offer optimal space for truth telling, some racial healing, changing the narrative and ultimately transformation.
“Hopefully, this will encourage people to listen to their intuitive spirit, and to lock into their creative outlet, and really believe in that,” said Fitzpatrick. “There’s power in where your creativity is leading you and guiding you.”
For more information about Fitzpatrick and her artwork, you can visit her website.
