{"id":438,"date":"2011-02-21T09:38:00","date_gmt":"2011-02-21T14:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/childrenofhoarders.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=438"},"modified":"2013-06-20T19:44:18","modified_gmt":"2013-06-20T23:44:18","slug":"for-funpositive","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/legacy.childrenofhoarders.com\/?page_id=438","title":{"rendered":"Creative Expressions by COH"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We are honored to display any and all
\ncreative expressions created by COH that you would like to share! <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\"\" 7\/2009:The Things We Carry: Artists Confront Compulsive Hoarding<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Compulsive hoarding is usually a private matter. Individuals shut their doors and keep the public away from the mounds of stuff they’ve collected. But over the past few years, some artists, all children of apparent hoarders<\/strong>, are taking a public look at the little-understood psychological condition. They’re using documentary, paintings and large-scale installations like Song’s to explore our relationship to stuff, and why we can’t let it go. “The whole point was to not hide this,” says Holly Fisher<\/a>, an Austin, Texas, artist who makes paintings of her mother’s hoarding. They’re among her most popular pieces of art; since 2001, she’s sold 15 of them. “I really just wanted to get this off my chest. I never thought people would be interested in them.”<\/p>\n

Sorting through these massive collections of objects is not only physically challenging, but also an emotional struggle.\u00a0 There’s the nervousness about putting a private family member into a public display. Fisher, the painter, knew her mother was generally guarded about her hoarding.\u00a0 “In the beginning it was terrifying,” says Fisher.\u00a0 “I thought my mother would have a nervous breakdown if she knew.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"
\nSays Holly:<\/span> “These are some of views that I tried to first disguise with Photoshop filters to make beautiful, then remove all but a few possessions using rotoscoping techniques or paint to make them minimal, then combining previous methods on used surfaces such as scraps of sandpaper and crumpled paper in order to do something new with them.<\/span>” -See her portrait gallery<\/a><\/address>\n
\n<\/address>\n
\n<\/address>\n
\n<\/address>\n
\n<\/address>\n
\n<\/address>\n
\n<\/address>\n

\"\"Oct 8, 2009
\nHoarding As Art -What You Didn’t See on Oprah<\/a>
\nvideo feature son of a hoarder, Song Dong’s, work<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
\nFilmmaker Cynthia Lester used her trade to make a documentary about her mother’s hoarding. Lester ran away from home when she was 13, driven out by her mother’s compulsive hoarding. When she returned for the documentary, her mother’s house was so packed that the floor was no longer visible. She could only enter through the window and the bathroom had become unusable; neighbors has signed a petition to evict her. The documentary follows Lester and her siblings as they clean out her mother’s house, an emotional and tense experience of fighting, yelling, crying and screaming.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lester still grapples with what it meant to make her documentary, which, in a way, validated her mother’s hoarding. In doing so, she wondered, was she only encouraging a mental illness, supporting the notion that every saved object has a purpose? “It’s complicated,” she admits. “In a way, its enforcing the fact that hoarding is okay, by turning it into a beautiful thing.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“When you live in this environment it’s so chaotic and you’re trying to make sense of it,” she says. “I think creating art out if it is a way for us to do that.”<\/span>
\nThe film, My Mother\u2019s Garden<\/a><\/em>, was an official selection at the 2008 Slamdance Film Festival. It also aired on MSNBC in April.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Keeper of My Things<\/strong>
\nPoem by daughter of a hoarder, Donna Austin<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I can\u2019t decide,
\nI\u2019ll just set it here-
\nI don\u2019t want to forget it,
\nSo I need to keep it near.<\/p>\n

The phone is ringing,
\nMy children are calling-
\nWish I could get to it,
\nWithout fear of falling.<\/p>\n

They think I can\u2019t see,
\nThe mess in which I reside-
\nThey think I must like,
\nThe piles that slide.<\/p>\n

Of course I don\u2019t like it-
\nDo they think I\u2019m insane?
\nMaybe I am crazy –
\nTo live trapped in this pain.<\/p>\n

But my things are important,
\nThey all MEAN something to me-
\nEverything is special,
\nThere\u2019s so much beauty I see.<\/p>\n

The more unique it is,
\nThe more creative its flair-
\nI\u2019ll take home and embrace,
\nTo cherish it there.<\/p>\n

If something is broken,
\nI will take it in-
\nPeople have flaws too,
\nThere\u2019s still value within.<\/p>\n

Something once used,
\nBy my loved one who died-
\nSends out an energy,
\nOf their spirit inside.<\/p>\n

My mother gave me this,
\nShe\u2019ll be mad if I don\u2019t keep this one-
\nI miss her, she\u2019s been gone,
\nSince nineteen eighty one.<\/p>\n

I just don\u2019t have the time,
\nMy health\u2019s not good you know-
\nSomething\u2019s always coming up,
\nTonight\u2019s my favorite TV show.<\/p>\n

If only I had more boxes,
\nIf only I had more brawn-
\nIf only I had more space to work,
\nThese things would all be gone.<\/p>\n

But they always need me,
\nMy piles to sort through-
\nIf I get them finished ,
\nThen what will I do?<\/p>\n

As the Keeper of My Things,<\/strong>
\nI always have a role-
\nTending to the needs,
\nOf my material soul.<\/p>\n

Someday I will sort through it,
\nMy family will no longer shun-
\nThey would never understand,
\nMy fear of being \u201cdone.\u201d<\/p>\n

They want me to clean up,
\nThey want to visit in my home-
\nI might want that fence up,
\nSo I can be alone.<\/p>\n

They want to take it,
\nAnd throw it all away-
\nThose aren\u2019t just things they\u2019re proof-
\nI existed here today.<\/p>\n

Those things over there?
\nI plan to use them someday,
\nI can\u2019t have the life I dream of-
\nIf you take them away.<\/p>\n

If I have them, you see,
\nThat life I can attain-
\nWhere everything is perfect,
\nAnd people entertain.<\/p>\n

Those dishes I plan to use,
\nWhen the table is cleared off-
\nHave friends and family over,
\nFor my Beef Stroganoff.<\/p>\n

Those decorations over there,
\nAre for the tree I have in mind-
\nI\u2019ve got some other ones too,
\nThat I\u2019m trying to find.<\/p>\n

Those magazines I will be reading,
\nI\u2019m seeking recipes for duck-
\nThen I\u2019ve got to look between the pages-
\nFor anything that might be stuck.<\/p>\n

But no I don\u2019t like this,
\nWhy do you think I close the shades?
\nI\u2019d like to see the sunshine too,
\nBefore it sets on me and fades.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t make it to the bathroom,
\nIn time to go today-
\nDo you think I enjoyed,
\nHaving those piles in my way?<\/p>\n

My children want to help me,
\nThey badger me so-
\nI know this isn\u2019t pleasant,
\nI\u2019m not ready to change though!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

They don\u2019t know what\u2019s special,
\nI\u2019ll get to it in time-
\nI just need to be the one to sort,
\nThe decisions must be mine.<\/p>\n

I know they want it done,
\nI know they want it clear-
\nI wish they would understand,
\nIt\u2019s the void that\u2019s left I fear.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Digital collage courtesy of Sandra Martin:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Paintings shared by daughter of a hoarder:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3\/26\/2011
\nPoem by an adult daughter of a hoarder:<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Watching, sitting by the fence,
\nwatching neighbors play,
\nwatching them swim,
\nand play, and play.
\nThey are riding horses now.\u00a0 I Love horses!
\nBut, I can only watch.
\nMy parents are mad at their parents,
\nfor weeks, or months, I don’t know.
\nI am a 10 year old prisoner in my own yard.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am 15 now, talking on the phone.
\nI have friends now.
\nFriends from school.
\nBut, they can’t come over.
\nIt’s hot, sweat dripping down my back,
\nno air conditioning.
\nNo place to sit.
\nSo, I have friends by phone.<\/p>\n

Sweet 16, I can drive.
\nNow I can get away.
\nI go to town,
\nVisit my friends,
\nAnything, to get away,
\nfrom the mess, the heat.
\nI spend my time at their house now.
\nOr, prowling in the car,
\nstealing vodka from my dad.<\/p>\n

I am 17, I can leave.
\nCollege draws me far away,
\nNo one here knows my secret,
\nOf the mess that I grew up in.
\nI am an equal here.
\nBut, I am still insecure.
\nI am a hippie now.<\/p>\n

Somehow I’m drawn to church.
\nI become a Jesus freak.
\nNo more need for vodka.
\nJesus gives me hope.
\nI have something better now,
\nBut, I’m still a mixed up teen.
\nSo, I change schools.<\/p>\n

I am 22, I’m getting married now.
\nHe has seen where I grew up.
\nHe still loves me.
\nBut, his family can’t know the secret,
\nOf the mess that I grew up in.
\nMy wedding is in my college town,
\nFar from the life behind.<\/p>\n

I am 32, I have children of my own now.
\nMy home is not a mess.
\nNo happy visits to grandma’s house.
\nThey have no room for us.
\nIf we get to see them,
\nthey must come to us.<\/p>\n

Time has passed.
\nMy age is not important now.
\nMom and dad are old now
\nI have them in my home.
\nThey still trash their room,
\nthough they can hardly walk.
\nI worry that there is no room,
\nto get a stretcher in.
\nWhat if they should need one?<\/p>\n

You think I should be able,
\nto just clean it up.
\nIt just doesn’t work that way.
\nNo, it just doesn’t work that way
\nThe struggle never ends.
\nFor, a child of a hoarder.
\nNo, the pain never ends,
\nFor, a child of a hoarder.<\/p>\n

Video form of above:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
\n

Do you have something to add here?
\nPlease share or post below in comment section if you’d like!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are honored to display any and all creative expressions created by COH that you would like to share! 7\/2009:The Things We Carry: Artists Confront Compulsive Hoarding Compulsive hoarding is usually a private matter. Individuals shut their doors and keep the public away from the mounds of stuff they’ve collected. But over the past few … <\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":547,"menu_order":11,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-438","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","nodate","item-wrap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.childrenofhoarders.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.childrenofhoarders.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.childrenofhoarders.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.childrenofhoarders.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.childrenofhoarders.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=438"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.childrenofhoarders.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":441,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.childrenofhoarders.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/438\/revisions\/441"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.childrenofhoarders.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.childrenofhoarders.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}