|
| Addict to Artist By Stacy Trevenon [ stacy@hmbreview.com ] Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, December 17, 2008 3:44 PM PST For Michael Denning of Half Moon Bay, the way to ecstasy was found in the next drink, next joint, next hit of crystal meth. Now, “The Way of No Ecstasy” is the name he has given to the 4-foot-by-5-foot collage that is his artistic masterpiece. On a large canvas spray-painted black, Denning put a silver border and a green star with the words “Peace,” “Love,” “Unity” and “Respect” and a heart. Helped by the family and friends who once gave up on him because of his addiction, he clipped hundreds of eyes from fashion magazines and put them on the border. He filled the middle with words and phrases, alluding to his journey, that he cut from magazines. “I have a knack for finding words and images and twisting them to make them say something different and change the overall meaning,” he said. “That in itself is art.” You’d find that collage on permanent display in the Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall courtroom lobby. “All the kids waiting to be sentenced can read it,” said Denning. It hangs there as a silent, powerful testimonial to the young readers. Half of Denning’s life had spiraled down due to drug addiction, family and friends were alienated and he was looking at rock bottom — until he found a lifeline through art. The same opportunity, he says, exists for others with the will to change. It’s the same message he offers to his students at the Heart of Chaos Juvenile Hall art program, sponsored by San Jose nonprofit Catalyst for Youth, which supports youth businesses and innovations. “These kids aren’t allowed to leave their cells, so I tell them they can go anywhere they want as long as they exercise their brains,” he said. “If I can reach one person and get them to make a change that’s difficult for them, or get them to think for themselves, then it’s all worthwhile.” Soft-spoken yet intense, Denning, 28, is proud of his first exhibit, “Cut n Paste,” now showing through December at the Gardner Community Center at 520 W. Virginia St. in San Jose. The collages blend images, background color washes, words and phrases cut from newspapers and a variety of other media, into statements on life journeys, love, politics, spirituality and youth. It is art grown from rocky roots. Denning was 13 when he had his first swig of alcohol. He tried marijuana, LSD, cocaine and crack before making crystal meth his drug of choice. It was a mindless whirlwind. “I used (drugs) to fit in, to make myself feel better,” he said. “When I was using, my entire world was getting and using more.” He went to work high. He stole money from his parents. He got kicked out of Half Moon Bay High School in his junior year. Then he realized he could lose everything, including his life. In one clear moment, he thought, “I should be dead and I didn’t die. Perhaps God has a plan for me.” Facing jail, rehab or life on the streets, he opted for a 12-step program. At the same time, he discovered he wanted to go back to school. He entered Brooks College in Sunnyvale to study graphic design and surprised himself by accomplishing more in a year-and-a-half than he had in the past decade of drug addiction. At Brooks, he learned about the second Youth on Fire exhibit sponsored by Heart of Chaos. That collective, founded as a venue for emerging and under-recognized young artists by another at-risk young artist Curtis Manzano, operates on a theory of chaos from quantum mechanics. That, said Denning, holds that chaos looks random but reveals a unique order of being called a “strange attractor” at its core, which has the power to align and propel the system. He created “The Way of No Ecstasy” for Youth on Fire, and took second place. The Heart of Chaos theory relates to the young, said Denning, and so does Catalyst for Youth director Joanne Hobbs, who “recruited” Denning, he said. “Knowing what I’d been through in my life, dealing with addiction and the fact I’d found healing through art, she wanted me to bring that to kids who are locked up.” Now he volunteers to teach art regularly to troubled youth. He continues creating collages — many oversize — characterized by words and phrases cut from “every mass media” touching on politics, relationships and social issues. “I go through old magazines and papers, and cut out words and phrases that strike a chord in me,” he said. “Without rhyme or reason — divine inspiration, so to speak — I put them together.” He also helps oversee a gardening program at the Santa Clara County juvenile hall, and is editing and writing film reviews for magazine/book “Soul Revolution,” which spotlights young innovators and is a “resource manual for the next five to 10 generations of kids who are lonely, afraid, feeling like they’re not going to amount to anything. If we show them the pioneers of today doing things that provide social change, maybe they will keep that spark of inspiration.” Art is now his fuel of choice. “Art can change people,” he said. “What kind of confidence can it give kids when they (say), ‘Hey, Mommy, Daddy, this is what I made.’” He’s on a mission now. “More than anything, I try to get people to think outside the box, not what they’re spoon-fed on an ordinary basis, but to think for themselves.” Art has a place even amid high tech, he noted. “Art is taking us back to our roots. We’re in a ‘me’ generation, and art reminds us that we need a sense of community. “If we get them young enough, and steer them away from the box of gangs and drugs and toward other dreams they have, (we can) help them achieve it. Change is possible. It’s a huge thing.” |