Editor's note: When I first encountered Beth's art I was blown away. I'm still blown away. The following pages contain samples from some of her collections. Although I don't possess any degrees in art and I am a lousy painter, and I can't make analysis of Beth's work, my eyes rule my opinions and they haven't steered me wrong yet. In a sea of artists displaying their wares on the web, BAJEMA is by far one of the best, if not the best. In her own words, Beth tells us about her work.
These images are from a collection I call Dystopia. They're actually images done in two parts, with neither part really having anything to do with the other. I created them because I love shrines --or things reminiscent of shrines. I was raised a Methodist, a very bland to the point religion that doesn't put a lot of importance in symbolism, beyond the occasional dove or symbol for Christ. When I would go to my friend's Catholic church, I just loved the ritual and the way the images of Christ and the Madonna were enshrined. When I did these images as collages, I wanted to try and make them reminiscent of shrines as well.
The idea behind them and the title of the collection is based on my love of dystopian novels. The idea that most cultures designed and built to seem like some great utopian society, in the end are the very opposite. The images were originally meant to be accompanied by pieces of writing that dealt with that idea.
