DIDiva & The Mirror Looks
New Work by Lynn Schirmer
Curator: Joseph C. Roberts
February 8 – March 31, 2011
CoCA Ballard, 6413 Seaview Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
On View Weekdays 10 am – 5 pm, February 8 – March 31, 2011
CoCA show extended through March 31
March 7th, 2011
A Few Words, Plus Photos from the CoCA Opening
February 22nd, 2011
Here is my Artist Statement for DIDiva & The Mirror Looks
The pieces in DIDiva & The Mirror Looks make up a loose collection of recent works, some of which refer to formative scenes, others to more contemporary scenarios. What they have in common is that they are all snapshots of my internal reactions to particular events. The works are multi-figured because I am a container of multiple reactions, not only in a metaphorical sense, but also in an FMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) verifiable sense.
I have a condition called Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). My paintings and drawings visually describe the process and consequences of extreme dissociation.
DID, or as it was formerly and most commonly known, Multiple Personality Disorder, (MPD) is the result of the repeated use of a defensive, disintegrated memory process, usually in response to repeated and/or severe trauma in early childhood. DID is a greatly misunderstood and overly sensationalized condition. In evidence of that fact I give you the most recent Hollywood abomination: The United States of Tara. Hollywood is always quick to exploit the anomalous and DID is particularly defenseless. The clinical community lies prone beneath political and social processes too complex to summarize in an artist statement (although a reductionist might label their driving force a criminal cover-up) and the lay public is woefully under or misinformed. I have even seen editors of prestigious news outlets conflate DID with schizophrenia. These outrages are a few of the reasons I brought DIDiva to life, at least virtually. The Diva is an alter ego I adopted to help me do what little I could to combat the profligate stigma and misinformation surrounding the condition. Her main soapbox currently resides at the URL DIDiva.com, but she serves me well here too, as an ambassador, and perhaps interpreter.
If The Diva had one thing to say in this venue, it would be for viewers to consider that they share their community with numerous other DIDivas and that in most cases, they would not possess the skill to detect this reality. Being informed then, is beneficial for all involved. For those who remain unmoved at this point, feel deprived or even ill-used, go ahead and entertain yourselves. Count the personalities in my artwork; see if you can. I bet you can’t.
CoCA: Joseph Roberts, Anita (Intern from Poland), Ray C. Freeman, David Francis
- Ken Marulis (right)
Joseph Roberts, Ian McFail
Willow Fox
Barb Noonan, Dan Hawkins
DIDiva & The Mirror Looks
January 26th, 2011
Detail: “It’s a Contest” Acrylic and pastel on paper, 80″ H x 144″ W, 2010
From the Press release:
Center on Contemporary Art Presents:
DIDiva & The Mirror Looks
New Work by Lynn Schirmer
Curator: Joseph C. Roberts
February 8 – March 6, 2011
Extended through March
Artist’s Reception, Thursday, February 10, 6 – 9 pm
CoCA Ballard, 6413 Seaview Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
On View Weekdays 10 am – 5 pm, February 8 – March 6, 2011
Lynn Schirmer’s figures overlap, blend features, and braid limbs suggesting complex relationships and boundary conflicts. Her groupings hint at formative struggles frozen in motion in memory. Schirmer produces her flat work spontaneously and draws exclusively from interior sources. The result is psychological self-portraiture, thought form rendered corporeal.
DIDiva & The Mirror Looks is the second in a series of Schirmer’s exhibits carrying the DIDiva brand. DID stands for Dissociative Identity Disorder and Schirmer has the condition. DID was formerly and perhaps more commonly known as Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD).
Schirmer says: “DID is greatly misunderstood and overly sensationalized. Hollywood and the media are major culprits. A recent example is Showtime’s appalling The United States of Tara. I have seen editors of prestigious news outlets conflate DID with schizophrenia. The clinical community might be of assistance but complex political and social processes hamstring it and the disorder is unfairly labeled “controversial”. So the lay public remains woefully misinformed and anyone with the condition lives in unnecessary isolation or faces painful stigma. In answer to these outrages, I brought DIDiva to life.”
With her DIDiva activities, Schirmer joins the ranks of those who’ve “come out” as having the condition. Some notables include football player Hershal Walker, writer Matthew Branton, and former president of the Asia Society, Robert Oxnam.
Lynn Schirmer is a Seattle artist, activist, and web designer. She is the former Studio Coordinator and Curator of Corridor Gallery at the Tashiro Kaplan building. She exhibits nearly as frequently in New York as she does in Seattle. In 2010 she was awarded a certificate of merit from the New York State Assembly.
More information:
http://LynnSchirmer.com
http://DIDiva.com
CoCA Seattle
Lynn Schirmer, Detail: “Bridge” Acrylic and pastel on paper, 72″ H x 108″ W, 2010
DIDiva 
INSCAPE Open House
October 8th, 2010
OPENING EVENT
OCT 16TH – 17TH 2010
Art in the former INS building: sculpture, painting, dance, installation, video, sound, light, apocalyptic golf, live music
Saturday: Noon – Midnight
Sunday: Noon - 6pm
Free Admission
815 Airport Way S. www.InscapeArts.org
PASSAGES
For the first time since its opening in 1930, you can tour the entire building, exploring the Passages installations as well as visiting the studios of more than 30 artists working in the building and breathing new life into these spaces.
PASSAGES ARTISTS:
Amineh Ayyad, Barbara Robertson, Chris Buening, Christian French, Danse Perdue, Demi Raven, Evan Shauss, Gail Howard, Helen Gamble, Jacob Fennell, Ju-Pong Lin, Katy Krantz, Ldan Yalzedeh, Manifold Motion, Meg Hartwig, Meghan Trainer, Michael Lyons Nickolus Meisel, Romson Bustillo, Sidney Ji, Smash Putt, Sol Hashemi, Tim Marsden and more…
OPEN STUDIOS
Alicia Yormey, Anthony Weathers, Bonnie, Foster, Caroline Kapp, David Robinson, Dept. of Culture, Evan Shauss, George Graham, Jake Zukowski, Jason Pace, Jennifer Mills, Jennifer Williams, Julie Haack, Katherine Krantz, Keeara Rhoades, Lisa Ricky, Lynn Schirmer, Tena Wright, Third Space, Thomas Kolb, Tres Henry, Velo Tranist
Live music @ 8pm Saturday
BANDS:
The Gargle Blasters, Ashcomb, Phase 3, Prints of China
DIDiva Video
October 8th, 2010
This is a short video I made to document my last show at Corridor Gallery, DIDiva & The Mad Machines.
Warning, difficutlt viewing…