The Forum

Artist and social worker Cathy Lander-Goldberg recently hosted the “Resilient Souls” Exhibition at the Florissant Valley Contemporary Art Gallery. The ceremony included an opening reception by Lander-Goldberg and a Gallery Talk explaining her exhibition. 

According to her website, clgphoto.com, Lander-Goldberg photographed various women facing struggles in the mid-’90s and asked them to write a short letter describing their “struggle.” These struggles ranged anywhere from teenage pregnancy to gang affiliation. Twenty years later in 20215, she began following up with as many of these women as she could and recorded where their lives had gone, taking another picture and another letter, with the women reflecting on their struggle. Many of the women overcame their struggles, finding success in their careers, families, or lives, while others continued to struggle, whether it be from past or new situations. 

Two women, unfortunately, passed away: Mariel “Cindy,” who passed after her heart transplant had degraded past usability, and Lynn, who succumbed to AIDS after a fourteen-yearlong battle. These were sobering reads, especially considering that right next to the declarations of their deaths were letters they wrote from the past, optimistic about their futures.

Lander-Goldberg approached this project through a dual view: one view, as an artist, and the other, as a social-worker with a master’s degree from Washington University and decades of experience. This dual view lent a unique perspective, almost like intruding on an open therapy session with women pouring their hearts out in handwritten letters and descriptions of struggle for the world to see, and Lander-Goldberg accepting their struggles with no judgment. 

The “Resilient Souls” exhibition is meant to “encourage others,” according to her artist’s statement, “It [the exhibition] inspires all of us to consider our resilience while finding beauty and meaning in our own imperfect lives.” Many of these women’s struggles are worse than many will ever face, but even so, they often sing our same tune. They are mistakes and insecurities, social isolation, and bad relationships. They are the ugly scars in our past that we ignore or the open wounds in our present that we can’t help but notice. They are sparse or never-ending yet always inevitable. The show runs through Dec. 7 in room IR111, located on the first floor of the library.