2008-05-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

Michael D. Sissons
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9sRtwvaFOU

Master in Visual Arts- Major: Classical Realism
Antioch University

Apple Masters - video Post-Production, Trazos, Madrid

Bachelor in Education- UNB, Canada

Contact and enquiries:

sissonsart@hotmail.com

Every social condition, be it abuse, poverty or homelessness, wears a Human face. Individuals form a wide range of societies and cultures; Egypt, Venezuela, Portugal, America, Brazil, Palestine, Greece or Canada - Muslim, Christian, Jew or Atheist, share commonalities of psychology and social influence. All societies and cultures affect the way we are formed and ultimately who we are. Yet, how we blend our individual backgrounds, personal experiences and cultural influences together to form a psychology that is uniquely our own, is the real shaper of our faces, features and characters. The portrait is, for me, a chance to glimpse for a moment, what has taken a lifetime to develop.

ABUSE AND PERSECUTION

Abuse and Survival in the Brazilian Rain

Patricia is a survivor; her strength and effort to overcome the past and lift herself up, with head held high is a testament, not only to her own strength and effort, but to th

e fortitude and resilience of abused, mal-treated and disadvantaged women everywhere.

HOMELESSNESS AND ISOLATION

On the Street

Generous, kind, conscientious, intelligent, wise, funny, lively, wild, social and loyal. All of these words can be used to define my friend Tony. Yet, why is it that when someone asks me who he is, my mouth blurts out the word 'Homeless' ?

DISORDER AND DISFUNCTION

Mirror image

To see ourselves as we truly are requires absolute honesty. Even then, as we gaze at our distorted image, we color it with memories of our past selves and images of our future ones. Our sense of self and identity is inextricably tied to our ability to locate ourselves within the mindscape of our lives, accompanied by memories and nostalgia. Peter's memory loss and dementia is gradually taking hold; forcing him to loosen his grip on who he is. Sometimes in the mirror, I catch a glimpse of his face staring back at me.

SACRIFICE AND SERVICE

Parched Paradigms

True creativity is the ability to reposition elements that we find in life in ways that have not been tried before. The willingness to do this in our personal lives results in us becoming at the same time, both Artists and works of Art. Feskie brings colour, light, value, form and structure to those around him: rescuing his sister and her son from an abusive relationship, his artistry has brought them life in the same way that water brings it to the desert.

WAR AND CONFLICT

No Comment

A child believes that all adults are honest, dependable, righteous, well intentioned, moral, ethical and filled with integrity. Sameh’s homeland is filled with and surrounded by children who do not know and adults who do not practice the meaning of those words.

AGING AND USEFULNESS

Room for us All

In a world that increasingly values youth over age and the new over the old ; the time, care, patience, craftsmanship and skilled artistry that goes into the production of a unique, one-of-a-kind piece of work is often pushed aside and devalued - in favor of mass-production and quick gratification....as are the artists and artisans who have spent a lifetime honing their skills and learning their trade. Is there room for them in today's fast-paced society, filled with frenetic and over-achieving multi-taskers? Jerry's answer to that is an emphatic; "Make it Once - Make it Right".

My Prison Guards

Ahmed, imprisoned in his world, doesn't strain against the chains that he feels wrapped around him. Whether real or imagined, he know that standing outside his cell are two prison guards who will never let him leave. Their names are Poverty and Culture.

ADDICTION AND ALIENATION

Coming up for Air

Swimming in a world of poverty, alcohol, drugs and violence, Tony occasionally comes up for air. Exhausted and empty; alone, lying barefoot on the dirty pavement in Vasquez de Mella square, the sound of a coin being placed beside his head on the sidewalk rouses him and he surfaces to face the day... and himself.

RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY

One god further

Zeus; Father of the gods.

In practice, what is an atheist? An atheist is just somebody who feels about Yahweh the way any decent Christian feels about Thor or Baal or the golden calf. As has been said before, we are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.

Professor Richard Dawkins

Michael D. Sissons Studio