{"id":10954,"date":"2019-11-21T13:41:08","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T17:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/artanddesign\/?p=10954"},"modified":"2020-06-23T14:09:03","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T18:09:03","slug":"looking-for-a-place-to-call-home-jerome-walford-illustrates-american-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/artanddesign\/2019\/11\/21\/looking-for-a-place-to-call-home-jerome-walford-illustrates-american-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking for a Place to Call Home: Jerome Walford Illustrates American Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Professor Jerome Walford\u2019s illustrations of everyday immigrant life capture rich and often tender moments that intersect with American culture and landscape. The images are a mix of the literal and dreamlike. The latest in appear in Gwan Anthology, Volume Two, a collection of art and short stories by immigrant artists from around the in world.<\/p>\n

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“Mother Daughter,” by Jerome Walford<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A woman contemplating numerous bagel choices; an American flag T-shirt worn under the jacket of a devout Muslim, a beleaguered stranger with a steaming cup of coffee, these and other images with “unintentional patterns and alignments of people and places,” as Walford calls them, are the basis of his work.<\/p>\n

“I focus on unexpected sightings that shed light on human experiences,\u201d says Walford who teaches Computer Graphics and is also managing editor of the collection. \u201cThey are glimpses of things we can relate to.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The second Gwan Anthology, to be published by Forward Comix<\/a> in spring, 2020, includes short comics, illustrations, and prose from over 30 artists and writers from 15 countries.<\/p>\n

\n

“Professor Walford\u2019s work is inspiring for its ability to represent the immigrant experience and our city\u2019s rich diversity, while imbuing all that he depicts with a sense of hope and beauty.” – Troy Richards, School of Art and Design<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“Gwan,” or “Gwaan\u201d is a word common in greetings in Jamaican patois. \u201c’A what a gwan?’\u201d isn\u2019t just ‘How are you?’\u201d says Walford, “but an invitation to a conversion about life and one\u2019s personal journey. It makes it fitting as the title of an anthology centered on the immigrant and foreigner experience.”<\/p>\n

Walford’s images of “seemingly ordinary occurrences” are often of things he notices on the subway, in parks, caf\u00e9s, and other public spaces.<\/p>\n

His “Mother Daughter” illustration (above) is of an encounter he observed at a subway stop in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was striking, this young woman sees herself as American, while also wearing distinctive clothing suggesting an adherence to religion. It shows her love for the country and pride in her cultural background,\u201d says Walford.\u00a0 She\u2019s shown as \u201ca typical teenager rolling her eyes at her mom while leaning toward her with affection.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Mother Daughter” was a Selected Winner for American Illustration 38<\/a>, a hardcover, juried annual regarded as among the best sources for top image-makers.\u00a0 It was also on view at\u00a0FIT as part of a year-long exhibit on theme of civility.<\/p>\n

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“Being Fruitful,” by Jerome Walford<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other work portrays “fantastical transformations,” as a means of making a larger point, says Walford.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Being Fruitful\u2019 was inspired by something that is not often recognized. Immigrants who come from challenging circumstances are often the most fruitful in our society.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

“Jerome Walford offers a diverse and real view of the world in his beautiful work.\u201d- Tim O’Brien, President, Society of\u00a0 Illustrators<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The collection is not explicitly political, says Walford, yet it serves as a response to rhetoric on immigration. \u201cWe\u2019re looking to present a strong and beautiful counter-argument to that,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Walford communicates in real-time with Gwan Anthology artists worldwide. \u201cWe do Skype calls. For some of us it\u2019s the end of the day, and for others they\u2019re just waking up! It\u2019s fun! Some of the countries represented from abroad include Canada, France, Australia and China. In the U.S. artists hail from Nigeria, Jamaica, the Philippines, and Brazil.<\/p>\n

\"\"
“Lip Service,” by Jerome Walford<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Perhaps no food lends itself to the depiction of immigrant life like the bagel. \u201cBeing introduced to all these choices of bagels!” says Walford about the illustration “Lip Service.”<\/p>\n

“If you can\u2019t decide there\u2019s an \u2018everything\u2019 bagel. There\u2019s just enough information to tell you that this woman is not from Eastern Europe but likely of Asian descent. I cropped \u2018the news\u2019 (from a newspaper in the bottom left) because no matter what other events are going on, we need to eat!”<\/p>\n

Lip Service was shortlisted by Communication Arts annual illustration competition.<\/a><\/p>\n

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“Ascent of the Beloved,” by Jerome Walford<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAscent\u201d (above) “is a fictional piece with a real-world connection,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The illustration appears in Walford’s graphic novel series \u201cNowhere Man\u201d<\/a> that follows a young man who has visions of his father, a 9-11 responder, whom he envisions ascending the annual light tribute at Ground Zero.<\/p>\n

His work on “Nowhere Man” was a way to use art to help process tragedy. \u201cIt started within the context of the story and evolved into something much more,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAscent,\u201d is currently on view in the \u201cWow Moments\u201d<\/a> exhibit currently in the Lynn and Carl Goldstein Gallery on the ninth floor of the Feldman Center. It\u00a0won a bronze award from the Society of Illustrators in Los Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Walford wants the Gwan Anthology to challenge views “about people we see on a regular basis whom we may have initial perceptions about, ones that don\u2019t tell much of the story of who they are, or what they\u2019re going through,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

“We use the phrase \u2018looking for a place to call home,\u2019\u201d he says of the artists he works with.<\/p>\n

A Kickstarter<\/a> campaign is set to launch to help offset the costs of the first print run of Gwan Anthology Volume 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Follow Jermone Walford\u2019s work on Twitter<\/a> and\u00a0 Instagram<\/a> and his website: JeromeWalford<\/a><\/p>\n

All images used with permission.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Professor Jerome Walford\u2019s illustrations of everyday immigrant life capture rich and often tender moments that intersect with American culture and landscape. The images are a mix of the literal and dreamlike. The latest in appear in Gwan Anthology, Volume Two, a collection of art and short stories by immigrant artists from around the in world. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":285,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24870],"tags":[67553,45495,67552,67558,67557,67556],"class_list":["post-10954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-computer-graphics","tag-american-illustration-38","tag-communication-arts","tag-forward-comix","tag-gwan-anthology","tag-society-of-illustrators-in-los-angeles","tag-wow-moments-exhibit"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p13xjz-2QG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/artanddesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/artanddesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/artanddesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/artanddesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/285"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/artanddesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/artanddesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10954\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/artanddesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/artanddesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/artanddesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}