Art in the Family.

On my father’s father’s side of the family, there is a strong and powerful line of engineers and physicists. My great-grandfather was a professor at M.I.T.. His grandson, my dad’s cousin Kenneth, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1982. It’s amazing that I can’t do math to save my life. On my final exam for physics in high school, I calculated the weight of the moon to be 7kg. 7. It really is made out of cheese.

On my father’s mother’s side of the family, however, are artists and historians. And art historians. My father’s mother’s father (did you follow that? My great-grandfather.) had a great love for art and was himself something of an artist. I’m not sure exactly what recessive genes were involved, but one of his grand-daughters and three of his great-granddaughters have become artists/art-historians. Weird, huh.

(Incidentally, it also runs in the family that no one dates people within their own nationality. My grandmother is German and married an American. Of her children, my father is the only one who married another American. Of the grandchildren – I’ve had two significant relationships with Europeans, my elder cousin is German and involved with a Turkish man, and one of my younger cousins is French and is – or at least was – involved with an American.)

Anyhow, my younger cousin, Vanora Rolland, is not only a fellow artist, and a fellow collage artist, but she’s an absolutely amazing artist and I wanted to share her work. I’m really totally floored with her mastery of collage technique and the absolute beauty of her images. Did I mention she’s younger than me? Like, a LOT younger than me? Man, it’s not fair that she’s also light years ahead of me.