Visiting Katya Neptune’s show, Echoes Unveiled, at her studio in Delray Beach’s Arts Warehouse feels like a reverential act, as though one were entering a blessed place. Eight-foot rolls of fabric unfurl from the rafters bearing photo transfers of small children — images that float mystically before you as you make your pilgrimage through the gallery. At center: a stairwell as altar, and on the steps, messages projected in light from above.
Neptune’s exhibition is a paean to the work of ArtHeart, a creators’ collective and gallery in Fort Lauderdale founded by the PureHoney featured artist for September. ArtHeart hosts exhibitions and takes on projects to draw attention to the plight of orphaned children in countries such as Rwanda and Haiti. Through its endeavors, ArtHeart has been able to supply financial assistance to those very children.
Some of the photographs ringing the gallery are images that Neptune captured during her work in 2012 and 2014 in Rwanda. “My daughter, Radha, who was 13 at the time, visited a few villages with me,” she tells PureHoney. “The children in these villages interacted with us the most, displaying incredible vitality and joy despite their daily challenges.”
“We were all eager to communicate, even though we didn’t speak the same language, so we focused on play,” Neptune says.
Neptune felt the first stirrings of what would become ArtHeart during a college class where she learned about the Rwandan genocide, a campaign of mass slaughter in 1994 that killed nearly a million people and left tens of thousands of surviving children parentless.
“I felt an immediate calling to support the Rwandan people,” Neptune recalls. “I met other artists who were equally eager to share their work. This inspired me to curate my own exhibitions, empowering artists while fundraising for orphans.”
The feeling of the space Neptune has created for Echoes Unveiled is one of love, gratitude and respect. But underlying that welcoming and positive air is a personal journey that led Neptune — as a parent, activist and curator — into some daunting circumstances.
“As a viewer, understanding the historical context, you can begin to grasp the emotional and psychological weight this experience carries for me and how it influences my art,” Neptune says, emphasizing “the connection between working closely with Rwandan genocide survivors and its impact on my mental health.”
“Although I chose to focus on fundraising to support orphans in Rwanda and Cap-Haïtien [in Haiti],” she says, “serving others and managing artists took a toll on my mental health.”
“Artists need to create,” Neptune says, “and the absence of that was like a slow death for me. Curating [exhibitions] and raising a family consumed so much of my time that my art practice took a back seat for many years.”
Those difficult years are realized in this stunning exhibition, which presented its own complications. “The biggest challenge I faced in creating this body of work was dealing with image transfers that would unexpectedly rip,” Neptune says.
But contained within those annoying tears was an emerging thread of insight. “I came to realize that embracing these flaws was exactly what I needed,” Neptune says. “When I allowed myself to accept and incorporate these imperfections, it became liberating. Telling myself that ‘I’m not perfect’ transformed from just words into a meaningful part of my creative process, allowing me to pour that acceptance into my work. It became a huge part of the work’s aesthetic.”
While the majority of the exhibition is dedicated to the image transfers, the stairwell-as-altar, Frequency, commands center stage. “The casted hands suspended from the ceiling are from artists I’ve curated in the past and those closely involved with ArtHeart,” Neptune says. “This piece is an ode to them, celebrating our collective efforts in changing the lives of nearly 400 children.”
“Frequency is inspired by religious doctrine,” she says. “It conveys that, regardless of whether we vibrate on different frequencies, we can come together and leave a long-lasting impact on each other’s lives and the lives of orphaned children, who I believe are the most vulnerable.”
“Some people expect others – the universe, God – to alleviate suffering,” Neptune says, “but I believe we are God’s hands and are responsible for what we can reach.”
Echoes Unveiled continues through October 19 at Arts Warehouse in Delray Beach.katyaneptune.com ~ kelli bodle
