S1: It's time for Midday Edition on KPBS. The GI Film Festival celebrates its 10th year. I'm Andrew Bowen in for Jade Hindman with conversations that keep you informed , inspired and engaged. One of the short films premiering at this year's GI Film Festival follows a Vietnam War veteran haunted by his memories of war.
S2: I relearn a lot about life.
S1: For the past ten years , the GI Film Festival has highlighted movies for , by , and about active duty service members and veterans. Some of the films will have their San Diego premiere tomorrow , including the narrative short doldrums. It follows a Vietnam War veteran haunted by the memories of the soldiers he led and the Viet Cong medic who saved his life. Lee Chow is the director of the film and she joins us virtually. Welcome to Midday Edition.
S2: Thank you for having me. It's an honor.
S1: It's a pleasure to have you with us. And also with me in studio is Keisha Jarvis Jones. She's on the advisory committee for the GI Film Festival. Keisha , welcome to you as well.
S3: Thank you.
S1: So , Keisha , I'll start with you. The GI Film Festival is celebrating its 10th year. Congratulations to you. Congratulations to KPBS. You've been involved for the past five years.
S3: We've made a few changes , one of which has been that we're only doing a three day event this time. But the exciting part is that it's selling out. And so I'm excited that we're going to be able to share 16 films , which is still a lot of films in three short days. But myself being a veteran , I think that the GI Film Festival is just doing such great work bridging , you know , military stories and then allowing the community to come in and see our authentic experiences.
S1:
S3: Obviously , that's what we're here to talk about , mainly because I love the D aspect of the GI Film Festival and also just being able to share different areas of service , just like this film here where we're talking about Vietnam and just making sure that we don't forget the history of the military and the contributions of all men and women in service.
S1: Well , doldrums is going to be premiering tomorrow. Congratulations , Li Xiao. I watched this film this morning. It was really beautiful. Incredibly moving. Tell us a bit more about this film and how you came up with this story.
S2: So my family has a history with the Vietnam War. My grandparents served back then along with the US soldiers. But after the fall of Saigon , I never spoken with my grandparents about what happened , and I never talked to me about it. But I got a piece of the story of their past through going through the pictures and some of the the diary , like the written pieces that they still kept in the attic of the house. And growing up. I'm a very imaginative child , so I kind of like creating my own pieces of my own world , like the story through those pieces that I found. And then , interestingly enough , before I wanted to be a filmmaker. I had this dream of being a soldier. Maybe because those things are inspirations and the pieces of history that I've been through with my grandparents , through those images and written. And I got a chance to join the US Army National Guard because of Covid , put us in like a pause for a year. So I took one gap year during Covid , I joined , I shipped out for basic , and I earned my title as a soldier and then came back. I got into UCLA and then continue my film journey. When I got to UCLA , I knew I had to do a thesis film to graduate , and I had ten years of experience working in the film industry as a self-taught with a determined to be a film director. So I'm like with my history , with the emotional connection with the war and with myself being in the army , I created doldrums from those inspirations and those pieces of my grandparents memories.
S1: What an incredible story. I read a quote from director Martin Scorsese. He once said , the most personal is the most creative.
S2: I think film , at the end of the day , to make it authentic and to make it original , has to come from your very personal experience. Of course , you have those training skills and education that help you to not like losing yourself when you're making the story. But it gotta stem from that personal root. And for me , I relearn a lot about life. When I when I made doldrums. Meaning how do I see trauma through my character's life ? I realized that , oh , this is the way that I recognize drama , and this is the way that I would like to deal with it , and this is the outcome that I would hope that I can also incorporate in my life. And from that very personal standpoint , I feel like I can spread out like the audience when they watch my film. They can they can feel that genuine and that emotion that I put in. And the lesson that I also learned myself , and I hope to inspire them as well , to face with their trauma and to find a way to come into term with it and live a better life. Just like the message at the end of my film trying to live a better life. But yeah.
S1: Well , let's hear a clip from doldrums that showcases this idea of facing your trauma and confronting it. This is where both veterans in the film are talking about how they each navigate their memories of the war.
S4: It wasn't your fault memories. They're like a violent bore. It's hard to write about the poor.
S5: Interesting word choice.
S4: But somehow I learned to. Face the pain. You don't embrace it at work , captain. I've come in peace with my poor.
S5: I'm not sure. It's possible to be in peace with the poor.
S1: And those were actors Robert Fleet and Alan Perrotta in the short film Doldrums. Lightshow.
S2: So I interview one of my neighbor , uh , and he here in , in LA , he happened to serve in the war as a marine corp. And that's actually one of the lines that he said is impossible to deal with the board. He's still living in the past. He's still trying his best every day to to be present and to come into term with what happened in the war himself. And then another piece , I interview my NCIC in my team. She used to deal with cancer , and she called it a board. And she said , there's no way you can push the board out of your life , trauma or challenges and difficulties , but whenever it's come to your garden , you just Let it know it's gonna destroy us , a part of the garden , and then you will still be able to recover that part of the garden. And once it's gone , you still have your garden. You still have your piece. And I got inspired a lot from those two interviews. And we remember how my grandpa owned. So deal with his own trauma. He tried to cope with those things with just daily life. Um , he , he kind of lived with it. I can see it through his eyes. I can see it through the way he carried himself. He was just taking care of his garden. He would just having a tea in the front yard , uh , in the front porch of the house. And he just , like , looking far away and trying to come into terms with it internally. So from that , when I wrote dodgems and when I make that scene , I see my grandpa in it , I see my NCO , I see which is my , my kind of like my in charge , in the unit. And then I see my neighbor and the two old men talking about how to come into term with the board. The man character , the the captain , said that it's impossible to come into term with the board and then his guest , which is his soldier , saying that for somehow just a little bit every day , you can you can come into peace with it. We as a human being , we can't just be better after one conversation , but one person every day , knowing you allow the board to come , it can do is destroy and is can do his visit. But after it's gone , you still have a control of your garden. You can still recover. And just knowing that that you can get 1% better every day , just knowing that is already , I think , a reassurance because it's the lifelong battle , right ? It's the lifelong work. Mhm.
S3: Mhm. Hmm. How can I just say thank you ? I'm a combat veteran. I served ten years in the Marine Corps , OIF and OEF , and although your film is about Vietnam veterans , it resonated very well to me in a sense of like wartime things occur , loss happens. And it does it does rear its ugly face and you have to face it every day. But just having a film that really depicts , like you have to continue to work through it and these things will happen. I really appreciated that and it it really did. I was in my emotions watching it , and it definitely reminded me of the work that I've done because I got out ten years ago now. Um , but then also just the work that I have to continue to do. Like you said , for those flowers to keep growing in my garden. And I greatly appreciate you saying that and making this film. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Keisha , I imagine you watch a lot of films when you're selecting , you know what ? What to choose for the GI Film Festival , which has really become an important platform for stories like these. Tell me more about what stood out to you about this particular film. Yes.
S3: Yes. So I guess a number of us on the committee. We say , you know , the one thing about the GI Film Festival is that it's authentic. My personal connection , serving those many years after Vietnam War , but still having the same struggles. It's depicted well , and it also encourages other veterans to talk about their stories. And I think as a committee , that's what we want. We want veterans to sit in the room and feel honored and thanked for their service. But we also want those that might not be having those hard conversations to be encouraged to have them , you know. And this short film is just exactly that. Think about your time in service , everything that you've gone through. But also know that even though you might not be in the best place right now , there's avenues to support you and people in the room will be there to support you. That's also the wonderful thing is that we have those that work at organizations in the room , like psychic armor , like Cohen Clinic , to actually support the veterans that are in the room. That might have a hard time watching this , and this might be the one way that they say , after struggling all these years , I do need to get help , and I do need to share what I'm going through.
S1: Question for both of you. I'll start with you , Keisha. What are your thoughts on film as a medium to tell stories from the military community specifically , and stories that might otherwise go untold or unseen ? Yes.
S3: I think this is one way to keep the history alive. Make us think about the sacrifices of those who serve. And also , like I said , continue to encourage those who might need support to get support. And for those who don't know much about the military service to actually look at these films and acknowledge the hardships. Also acknowledge the good times and the camaraderie that we do build while we're in the military , and also understand it's a challenge for us when we get out , right ? And I think this is where the community can come in , watch these films and think about new avenues of approach for resources for our veterans. And also , this is a way of therapy , really for our veterans. Rather , it's those who are producing the film or those who are watching them. I think that the more education that we have is specifically like in this situation surrounding mental health , the more people that will continue to get help and we'll see our veterans in better places because of it.
S1:
S2: More of like a emotional feeling and connection because films you not just seeing you consume. So here you have music and you have sound designs. All of those make films very unique. It's like a unique medium to communicate emotions , messages , uh , thoughts provoking even. Sometimes it just gives you a path , uh , on your own thought. And at the end of the film , you can cultivate your own emotions and your own feelings through the message that the filmmaker trying to communicate with you. I think that's also one of the reason I committed myself to filmmaking. It's like a very unique medium for me to express my my emotion and my feeling and unspoken thoughts or feelings that it just like is so hard to explain my words or or any other medium , and I really hope that film. Film. For me , it will stay even after my time in this world , after I'm gone. So it's like a thing that I contribute to the human history and hopefully somewhere , somehow in the future , when I'm no longer in this earth , someone watch my film and I can still resonate , they can still find inspiration , or they can still find the answer or the the path that they've been looking for to ground themselves and to help them a little bit in this world.
S1: Well , Xiao , I want to congratulate you not just on the story that you told with this film , but also the cinematography , the sound design , the production design. It was all just truly beautiful. Thank you for making it , Keisha. What are some of the other stories that we can expect to see in tomorrow's movie lineup ? Yes.
S3: So there is a number of shorts that you can see made by different directors. And then there's also different errors that are also represented. And I think the best thing about this specific day is that , you know , you don't have to commit to a full featured film , and you're going to get a lot of emotions through all of the shorts.
S1: Well , once again , congratulations to both of you. Congratulations on this film , Keisha. Congratulations on ten years of the GI Film Festival. Doldrums will have its San Diego premiere tomorrow at 730 at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. General admission tickets for the screening will be $15 $10 for military members , veterans and students. I've been speaking with Lei Chao , the director of doldrums , and Keisha Jarvis Jones , an advisory committee member for the GI Film Fest. Thank you both so much for joining us.
S3: Thank you. Thank you for having us.
S2: Thank you for having me. It's it's an honor.
S1: Coming up. Project blank wants you to rethink what opera can be.
S6: So this is an excerpt from the Aria. In this case , the the diva. The opera singer is a bee. A little pollinating bumble bee. Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.
S1: Beth Accomando sits down with the composer behind Park Opera more when KPBS Midday Edition returns. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Andrew Bowen in for Jade Hindman. This Saturday , Project Blank will present a single performance of Park Opera , which redefines what opera can be. This large scale , interdisciplinary arts installation takes different aspects of an operatic work and combines them with the natural environment of Balboa Park , and the event is free and open to the public. KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando speaks with Project Blanks artistic director Lesley Latham and composer Voytek Blank about Park opera and challenging audience expectations.
S7: If this is what you think opera has to sound like , then think again.
S6: So this is an excerpt from the Aria. Um , and in this aria , each of the each of the instrumental musical components include some sort of natural world device to them , in this case the the diva. The opera singer is a bee a little pollinating bumblebee. So. C.
S7: That's Leslie Latham , artistic director of Project Blank and the pollinating Bee diva of Park Opera.
S6: Theme Park Opera is a modular opera installation where you take the component parts of an opera and then scatter them around a public park , and so people can take take it at their own pace. It can go through it as fast or slow as they want , take in as little or as much of it as they want. Um , we'll give them a map when they arrive at our lobby , which will be the Morton Fig tree. Um , and we've got a path that we've designated for them , but people can take it at their pleasure.
S7: Project blank is exactly what its name implies. Yeah.
S6: Yeah. It's a fill in the blank. As in fill in the , um because each each concert isn't , isn't like the next. Um , it's it's a pretty varied offering. So we we do performance art. We do , um , installation work , uh , sound as installation , which is what Park Opera is. It's really an installation piece that has sound as the element , as the medium. Um , we do contemporary classical music , notated music. We've done retellings of , of older scores. Um , we did , for example , we , we did a , um , a version of Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time , but told through the lens of an alien abduction. Um , because why not ? And so , yeah , it's just there's we we do. We do a lot of things. Our practice encompasses so many , so many varied elements. So why not find a way to put it all together ? So yeah , we're always trying to find , um , find new ways to bring in what I think are the super interesting voices from not only from San Diego , but from around , uh , around the world. And there's some beautiful work being done that explores , uh , explores the relationship between sound and body and the natural world , and particularly by this composer of blackish.
S8: Da da da da da da da da da da.
S6: Park opera is an opera about listening. And it's an opera about , um , there's no protagonist , there's no storyline. It's about finding B , putting an opera in a space that is unobtrusive , where you might just miss it. If you're walking past all of the sounds that the musicians are playing are really , really small. And this this gestural language that invites the listener to kind of get closer.
S7: And sometimes you might barely notice the composition. As with this flute solo that uses the instrument in unconventional ways as composed by Voytek Blake.
S6: Is a friend of ours from UCSD , from , you know , a decade and a half ago. And he does these amazing immersive works that I just I wanted San Diego to get to experience them. Um , it'll it it forces the listener to listen in a more embodied way. Um , forces feels like a harsh word , but it invites the listener to listen in a more embodied way and a less prescriptive way where , you know , there's rules of engagement. You sit in your seat , you behave yourself , you're quiet , you applaud when allowed. Um , while the symphony or the opera is being performed in front of you. And in this case , you become part of the opera listening. He likes to say that listening is the protagonist in this opera , and all of the people coming and experience it , ah , ah , become a part of it. And so , I don't know , it just felt like such a nice , a beautiful way to , to celebrate not only this public space that I love , that it is this haven of beauty and history. It's got this amazing ties , um , to San Diego and what it means to San Diegans , but a way to sort of , like , activate it and get people to experience and engage all of their senses in a different way.
S7: And throughout different spaces in the park.
S6: So the desert cactus garden , the rose garden , um , the big fountain in front of the science center , the fig tree , which was a super grateful that we were allowed to use the fig tree. It's the. It's amazing. Um , and then my favorite spot is the Zorro Butterfly garden , which is pretty , um , oft visited. Not not visited very often. Um , it's kind of tucked away a little bit , and you kind of have to know it's there. So we're going to we're going to fill it with , um , little bird songs , uh , as part of the chorus. It's going to be charming , really amazing. Um , and so it's yeah , it's all about finding ways to relate to the natural environment that is hidden in plain sight in the middle of an urban landscape , that you can get lost in a desert grove , not realizing there's a freeway right there. Right. It's just beautiful. Transformative. Um , the park itself is a transformative place. And then the the opera then just heightens that. It kind of helps you to disappear in this fantasy land.
S7: Sitting in the desert cactus garden , Blake explains how he's performed Park Opera before and will be tailoring it to Balboa Park. Yeah.
S9: Yeah. And so Park Opera is made of ten acts , and they can be arranged in , uh , in different order depending on the on the space. So far , Park Opera was done in a park in Warsaw , in the forest in Switzerland , on a small island in the middle of the lake in Austria. And now it's it's here. So every time that the sound work had to be adapted. And but here , this is also this is the San Diego version of Park Opera. And this sound is especially adapted for , for for Balboa Park. Balboa Park is the libretto for the opera. This is the at the same time , the protagonist in a way , you know. So. So we were walking and listening and trying to compose this sound , walking the best way in the best experience for the listener.
S7: And don't be surprised if you come across unicorns by the Rose garden.
S9: We in Park opera. We we invited the unicorns to also to perform with us , and they actually like to eat the rose petals. So they live in the nearby bushes. And when you come to the show , you won't be able to see them because humankind lost the ability to see these mythical creatures. But we will be able to feel the presence of the unicorns. But you have to come and see Noah's parents.
S7: Now , as we can see , this is an open public space , so you'll have people who are coming and following your opera.
S6: Really , it's the that not often do we get an opportunity to encounter live music , live installation work. Um , it's often sort of relegated to the , you know , the , the kingdom of the opera house or , or galleries that that might feel exclusive or that might not feel like you , you can , um , you can relate to the work that's being presented. Sometimes it can feel off putting , but by kind of putting it in a public place , it just it makes the consumption of art or the interaction with art or engaging with art very egalitarian. Um , and that it is for everyone. Anybody can get something from this. It's not exclusive. It's , it's for everyone. And so if they happen upon it , that's great. Then they can choose to come on the journey or not. And then they have that little memory to take with them.
S7:
S6: And at this part of the opera we will have the binoculars station. So in an opera house you use your spectacles to see the stage , but in this case we're going to use them to to hear bigger and to to amplify the natural world with very analog tools like glass bottles and jars and vases and beakers that kind of work like a conch shell , you know , that it helps to. Yeah , you explain it , you say it better than me.
S9: I mean , it's all about , um , composing your own listening experience. And by filtering a white noise and filtering using different materials next to your ears , you can hear different sounds.
S7: So tell us where we have landed.
S6: Now we are in a little grove at the entrance of the Desert Cactus Garden. And this area , this section here is where we're going to place our grand piano and in this case , a toy. It's going to be a teeny tiny little baby baby baby baby baby. Grand piano. Um , played by a few different pianists throughout the installation. And the sound changes completely. You know , it's so much less noisy. You hear , like the white noise of of the traffic on both sides , but you you don't really get a sense that it's there other than just the whirring of the engine. Um , so yeah , you can sort of like , disappear in plain sight in these , in these little spots , which are just they're amazing. It's amazing.
S9: Opera is also about that , that , you know , that , uh , pure silence or , uh , only natural sounds. They are almost non-existing. That we have to coexist with the , with the manmade sounds. And they are always present in the , in the surroundings. So , uh , yeah , this is where we are in this moment of , of our lives , and we always have to deal with this sound pollution or however we we name this sound. Oh , here we go.
S6: A motorcycle.
S7:
S6: Right ? Expect the unexpected to be such a cliche , but bring sunscreen. Um. Bring some headphones. There will be , um , there will be some some sound walk components that will. You'll hear better if you have your own , like AirPods or or noise canceling headphones. Ideally. Um , but yeah , come ready to to engage in sound and performance in a way that you might never get a chance to see again.
S9: And most importantly , be all ears. Yeah.
S6: Yeah.
S1: That was Beth Accomando speaking with Project Blanks Leslie Latham and composer Voytek Block. Park Opera takes place this Saturday in Balboa Park from 4 to 7 p.m.. Find out more at KPBS. Still ahead , arts reporter Julia Dickson Evans shares her picks for the weekend , including an exhibit from a painter whose art is fueled by dreams.
S10: There's this really rich tradition with the intersection of surrealism and dreams. Like , think about Salvador Dali.
S1: Hear more in your weekend preview when KPBS Midday Edition returns. Welcome back. This is KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Andrew Bowen in for Jade Hindman in our weekend preview. We have visual art , music and some creative Mother's Day options for you. Joining me with all of the details is KPBS arts reporter Julia Dixon. Evans. Welcome , Julia.
S10: Hey , Andrew. Thanks for having me. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Glad to have you here. So there's a bunch of new art that's opening up at Bread and Salt in Logan Heights. This is part of the barrio Art crawl on Saturday. What can we find there ? Yeah.
S10: So they're going to be open kind of late , from 5 to 8 on Saturday. They do this every second Saturday. Um , there's a handful of new exhibits opening up. First is Lindsay Bloom's , um , video work. It's called pneumatic , and she has sound by composer Judith Herman. It's a staged , erotic encounter between a robot and the artist. So lots to unpack there. Wow. And it was.
S1: That sounds interesting.
S10: Originally shot on 16 millimeter film and then kind of transposed into this video work that will be on loop in Bread and Salt's video gallery. And then in the main gallery , artist Liz Stringer has sculptures and flat works , they're going to be on view in her new exhibit called The Tellings. She's based in Long Beach , and some of her sculptures are really , like monumental , including one that's this , like 14 foot tall Gothic column made up of all these , like individual separate columns. It's about like , thinking about the collective. And then the new artist in residence is Philip Del Rey , and he's going to have his first open studio of his residency , which will continue through July. And he does a lot of really great text based art. Some of it is humorous , some of it is more disruptive with like found objects like signage or print. And that's all from 5 to 8 on Saturday. And then also at the Athenaeum Art center , which is also in Bread and Salt. There's going to be a mother's day pop up art show that was based on an open call for submissions , and that's on view Friday afternoon and then all day Saturday. But then that's it. Wow.
S1: Wow. Well , I'm putting that on my calendar And true public radio fans will be excited about this one.
S10: It was This American Life , or maybe it was National Public Radio , but he's also known for his books and these humor essay collections like Me Talk Pretty , One Day , Santaland Diaries. And he's in town tonight to share more stories , including some already published pieces , some of his favorites , and then some works in progress. And he'll also sign books afterwards. If you've ever been to one of his readings , he's he's actually notorious for these signings and the things that he writes , but also how much time he spends with each person in line. It's tonight at 730 at Balboa Theater , and there's still tickets available.
S1: And on Sunday , of course , it's Mother's Day , and you've got some great options for families if you'd like to do something artistic together for the occasion. Right.
S10: Right. So the Museum of Contemporary Art , San Diego. They have a monthly play day. Um , it's this Sunday and the museum is free all day , and they have some family friendly programming that's kind of like in the middle of the day. This month , the theme is music on the inside , and they're going to have this art making activity that's painting a tambourine and making paper instruments with some musicians from Project Blank. And then everybody can join in with their little handmade instruments on a play along mini concert. And then , just like every month , they're going to have a kid friendly tour of the museum at 11 and then a book nook with some book recommendations and a storytime at 1:00.
S1: Some great family fun there. Big news for Broadway fans. The Broadway touring production of Hamilton is back in San Diego. Are people still able to get tickets ? Is the big question.
S10: Yes , I believe so. So it's in town through May 18th. And yes , it is hard to find tickets , but right now there are some , like verified resale tickets that are available for most of the shows , but they're also doing a digital lottery. This is every Friday morning at 10 a.m. for $10 tickets , and then the winners are announced the following Thursdays. So tomorrow is technically the last week of the lottery. You have to download a special app through the touring production itself , and then you can have a chance to get two tickets. And it's here at the Civic Theater for the next two weeks. And this is the room where it happens from the original Broadway cast recording.
S11: I wanna be in the room , the room where it happens. I wanna be in the room where it happens. The room where it happened I wanna be. Whoever it is I wanna be in the room where it happens. It. Happens to be. I wanna be in love.
S1: Well , that'll be a great show , I'm sure.
S10: They're performing together this weekend. Two concerts they're going to do on Chin's Cello Concerto. This is the fourth movement. So it is such this unique and dynamic piece and very , very technically impressive. And the orchestra will also perform a really lovely piece by composer Anton Bruckner. And the bonus is a pre-concert talk. This year it's by composer Tetsu Kim , who is a professor of music at San Diego State , and that talk will start an hour before each show. He is really wonderful and really knowledgeable about music , so that should be fun. The shows are 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday at Jacobs Music Center downtown.
S1: And finally , there's an exhibit currently on view at Oceanside Museum of Art. And you featured this artist in the latest episode of your podcast , The Finest. Tell us about Mary Jane. Yeah.
S10: Yeah. So her exhibit is called In Losing Sleep. I painted , and for decades she's painted these , like , silhouettes of girls inspired by her dreams. Um , she lost her ability to dream when she recently started using a CPAp machine for her sleep apnea. And her dreams had informed her art a lot. Like she's a surrealist artist. And there's this. I learned this even though it seems kind of obvious when you think about it. There's this really rich tradition with the intersection of surrealism and dreams. Like think about Salvador Dali. And we have an excerpt from our episode here where we learn about Mary's relationship to her dream life. Mary is not just obsessed with the aesthetics of her dreams. She's incredibly well-read on the psychology of human dreaming and has done a ton of research surrounding herself with literature that fed her fascination with dreams.
S12: When I was 18 , I came across a Surrealist manifesto , and that was kind of the key opener for me , for feeling good about the thing that I do every night , which was a dream , like I didn't. I knew I liked dreams , but I didn't really find the importance of the human experience in the depth of dreams until I picked up that book. And so when I read that , and also being interested in psychology and Freud and Carl Jung , um , I was able to find the importance of those dreams more so now. And so dreams have always been so inspiring for me to become a surrealist. Only because I felt like my day to day was answered when I slept and had those kind of revelations. And it's like a storybook , I think , because I'm able to reflect on , oh yeah , why did I dream that ? Or how did that make me feel ? Or oh man , I didn't realize I was thinking about that yesterday until I had that dream. Like so. I answered so many things for me. So because I always think if I'm at a sleep state and I'm not fully controlling my dreams and my brains or my brain is just firing off , I always think that my dream is like telling me what I need in a kind way. Like it's like tough love in the form of dreams. And so whether that is , um , I feel bad about something I did and it's taking it's taking a hold as this very beautiful , chaotic , dune like dream where you know you're in the sands by yourself and you know it's because you have to apologize or something.
S10: With decades of practice , Mary has some pretty wild descriptions of her dreams. In theory , we all have these intricate movies playing in our heads every night. Mary is just really good at paying attention to and remembering them.
S12: Sometimes I feel like I'm a ghost and I'm watching things happen. A lot of the times , too. Yeah , I just remember that sort of tangible feeling of those dreams. And that's kind of the most important part for me is the sound , the colors of the dreams , not necessarily the full objects. Um , because a lot of times , mid dream , it alters like something looks so jagged. And then I'll turn around as , as the dreamer. And all of a sudden everything is like rounded. You know , it's just , it keeps changing and it's just so fun. On.
S10: So Mary's dreams have been a key window into her subconscious , and her art has been her way of recording and understanding them. It's always been her and the girls bouncing back and forth between dreams and art like a surreal feedback loop. They've helped her persist through every major challenge in her life.
S1: Wow , that's so cool. I mean , as someone who doesn't remember his dreams very much. I'm just so envious and fascinated. So tell us what these paintings look like.
S10: Yeah , so they're usually silhouettes in profile of the girl's faces and often , like , sprouting with botanicals or machinery and sometimes entire houses growing out of the head. And she also has this really intentional use of color. Each series that she does has a sort of color palette to it. And this one , since it's so connected to air and the actual CPAp PAP machine is in some of these paintings , so blue plays a really big role. Like the blue medical tubing and then the air and the sky. There's a lot of really vivid blues in these paintings. And at Oceanside Museum of Art , she also has a giant mural covering two entire walls at the exhibit. And you can see that through June 15th.
S1: And ultimately , spoiler alert , she did find her way back to dreaming , didn't she ? Right.
S10: And for her , it was this big question of like having to choose between something that's unhealthy but fuels her art. And , you know , for her , that was the bad , restful sleep of sleep apnea. But for other artists , it's things like alcoholism or , you know , other other things like that. And then she was choosing between that and her health or using the CPAp machine. But yeah , she told us about some of the ways that she's been able to sort of like , hack back into her dreams or find ways to fully remember her dreams , like as soon as she wakes up , if she has dreamt. Without opening her eyes , she starts a voice memo and and writes it down. And there's also , like bedtime snacking. Healthy fats , apparently. Or one way to dream. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Well , you can listen to the rest of that episode about Mary Jane on The Finest wherever you get your podcasts. I've been speaking with KPBS arts reporter and host of the finest , Julia Dixon Evans. Julia. Thank you.
S10: Thank you. Andrea. This was fun.
S13: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
