All About Trading - ArtTrader Magazine

Art TRADER
m a g a z i n e
I will list some that come to mind: Marie Laurencin, Alice in Chains, Munch,
Kandinsky, Picasso’s “Woman Ironing,” Percy Shelley, Virginia Woolf; the
books: Veronika Decides to Die (Paulo Coelho); The Bonesetter’s Daughter
(Amy Tan); Widow Basquiat (Jennifer Clement); Chelsea Horror Hotel (Dee
Dee Ramone) (and more); the ballet “Giselle;” the Hotel Chelsea in New York;
any books on magick, alchemy, tarot cards and/or visual symbolism; The Virgin
Mary and images of the Virgin Mary (especially Our Lady of Lourdes); anything
to do with All Hallow’s Eve, Dia De Los Muertos, Carnivals/state fairs/side
shows; Nancy Spungen, and the piano of David Lanz; any master violinist; the
music of Secret Garden; and anyone who forges new paths and breaks down
barriers. I also find great truth in fairy tales.
An angel pops up a lot in your work; is there special
significance there?
Randi: Yes, very much so. When I went to a local cemetery, ages ago, I wanted to photograph the images of
these silent sentinels. While I was there, this one statue overwhelmed me. I stood for a very long time in the
presence of this beautiful figure. The name “Manuel” came to mind, so that’s what I call him. At the time, he was
almost black with moss and mold, but I saw this beauty underneath, and I photographed him many times.
During this time, I was friends with a man named Malcolm. Malcolm was from New Orleans, a Cajun, and an
amazing cook. He also was HIV positive. He was so spiritual. I told him about Manuel. Malcolm had become
very ill at this time but told me that his hope was that he could go with me and help me clean this angel’s face.
He told me how we could do it. Because of his failing health, this never came to pass. In time, Malcolm died.
About six months later, I went to the cemetery to photograph
Manuel again. At first, I couldn’t find him! Finally I realized, I
was standing right before him. I didn’t recognize him at first
because he was pure white--completely clean of the moss and
mold. I was overwhelmed for a moment, but then, I thought of
Malcolm. I thought to myself, did Malcolm do this? I stood in
silence for a moment, and then I whispered, “Malcolm?” And at
that moment, a breeze came and blew leaves across my feet. I
really believe I witnessed an amazing miracle at that moment.
To update this story, I went to visit Manuel this past week of
All Hallow’s Eve. About three years ago, I lost another friend
to AIDS. This friend was even closer than Malcolm. His name
was Ron. I’d taken Ron to visit Manuel before and had told him
the story of Malcolm. He had known Malcolm as well. Well,
as I was standing there this past October, I thought of Ron.
I whispered, Ron? But nothing happened. I went ahead and
photographed Manuel. As I was going back to the car, I looked
down and saw something I hadn’t noticed before. I don’t know
how I missed it, because it was right there. Lying there on
the ground was a bouquet of red flowers (plastic, like from an
arrangement). I wonder if that was from Ron? Because I hadn’t
noticed it before. Anyway, I picked it up and put it in Manuel’s
hand and photographed it.
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