A native of Ohio, I am the child of immigrants from two sides of the globe. This biographical fact has made me acutely aware of how many threads of large contemporary issues and themes can find their ways into small Midwestern communities. When given the opportunity to jury a pool of Midwestern artists for this issue of , I found myself drawn to the images that conjure faraway places and global narratives, despite the artists’ location in thesubmissions, I sought to get away: to backyard barbecues and family gatherings seemingly across oceans, to street corners in urban neighborhoods, and to the past via family archives remade in acrylic paint on canvas and seen through the lens of a generational divide.
