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Interview with 4th Street Fine Art Artist Vera Totos

1/28/2021

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Please introduce yourself. Who are you? Where did you grow up? Where do you live?
I'm Vera Totos, I'm a handweaver and textile artist. I grew up in Hungary, and have lived in the US for 17 years. I live in the East Bay near Berkeley, with my husband, two kids, cat and a dog. A lot of what I do in art is influenced by the relationships around me - some of my works start as art lessons for kids; or with an idea about a community project, school fundraiser, a wrap to make a friend battling illness feel better; table linens that take on additional meaning after being used for particularly memorable holiday, and so on. I couldn't make the same art in a vacuum; it's all about people and experiences together.
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Tell us more about what you create. What style(s) do you work in, mediums, etc.
I do weaving, felting, spinning, dyeing, and whatever techniques my current project throws my way. Right now I am experimenting with 3D structures in weaving and through fabric sculptures using stiffened fabric.
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How long have you been creating?
All my life! I started fiber crafts around 7 or 8, when my great-grandmother deemed I was old enough to start learning sewing and embroidery. I have been "collecting" fiber crafts since then, adding knitting, spinning, weaving, shibori dyeing etc. Right now I am flirting with paper sculptures and woven basketry fiber sculptures. I have never done basketry, but it sounds intriguing!
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When you're not making your art, what do you do?
I teach weaving to adults and integrated STEAM to young children. What that means is that we use art (the A added to STEM) to explore art and craft techniques along with scientific concepts. It may be a project using colorful lights, creating light play and explore additive color mixing at the same time; or an engineering challenge to build the most stable structure out of common art materials.
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Is creativity a luxury or necessity for you? Tell us more about that.
I tried to put aside making things by hand for a while in college and graduate school and focus on reading and writing - I didn't last very long! I picked up knitting to keep myself sane, because it was portable and could do it during lectures.
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Where do you find inspiration?
People and important events in our relationships. Weddings, shared meals, friendships, babies and children, bouts of anxiety, pandemic isolation have all inspired pieces I made. I rarely separate art from functional art - a wearable shawl commemorates a wedding; and set of napkins becomes backdrop for important memories; a jacket carries self-expression, fabric designed for a garment ends up mounted on a panel and hanging on the wall - things become experiences and experiences become entwined with things.
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Catching Up with Artists Jeff and Wendy

1/4/2021

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Covid has drastically altered Jeff and Wendy’s wildlife photography. Typically, they are traveling to different parts of the world and within the USA photographing a wide variety of animals, but Covid has allowed them to focus on all of the amazing wildlife that can be found locally.  It has also provided Jeff, who does wildlife drawing, with the opportunity to devote more time creating charcoal drawings of animals that are near and dear to his heart such as a gray fox, great horned owl and a river otter. Giclée prints of these animals are available for sale at the gallery.
Wendy and Jeff at Work in the Field
​This fall, Jeff and Wendy enjoyed spending time with two juvenile great horned owls, who allowed them to capture some very breathtaking images of owl behavior. One image is of one of the young raptors taking flight and another image captures one of the owls having a stare down with its parent as it begged to be fed!  The adult won the stare down and flew away! 
Juvenile Great Horned Owls
Bobcats and river otters are two of their favorite subjects and over the past six months they have been able to observe and photograph these two apex predators on many occasions. They have also spent time photographing a variety of shorebirds and songbirds often capturing images of them in flight.
A Romp of Otters
Lazy Bobcat
Reflection of Yellowlegs in Flight
A Great Egret Taking Flight on a Foggy Morning
They are also very involved in conservation efforts and time at home has allowed them to create Zoom presentations and write articles about conservation issues and ethical photography. They donate their images to Lindsay Wildlife, Sea Otter Savvy and River Otter Ecology Project to support nonprofits that are doing tremendous work promoting awareness and support for wildlife conservation issues.
 
Jeff’s limited edition charcoal pencil drawings are also available for sale at the gallery.
Gray Fox
Great Horned Owl
Please  visit Fourth Street Fine Art where you can view their photographs and Jeff’s drawings that are on display or spend a little time exploring their website and step into a world of wildlife wonder  www.jeffandwendyphotography. If you find an image you would like to purchase, please contact them and they will create a custom metal or giclée  print produced just for you!
 
Jeff and Wendy’s  goal is to capture images which promote an awareness and respect for all wildlife and provide people with a piece of art that reminds them of the importance of connecting with wildlife on an emotional level. So why not bring a little wildlife into your home- we know it will sooth your soul.
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Art is the Flower by Cindy Podren

12/16/2020

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Cindy has been preparing for a show that she will display with a botanical painter, Sal Petru, in January, 2020. Due in part to Covid, she has returned to an early love, painting flowers in watercolor. This is the story of one piece for the show.
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While she usually uses her own photos, the photo which she used as a springboard for this painting is a stock photo:
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As she thought the coloring was a bit florid, and she decided to tone it down. Also this painting technique is more controlled then the techniques she used in some of the other watercolors for the show. In this technique, the petals are separately painted, with a large brush and very little pigment. Sequential layers use more pigment, are applied with smaller brushes, and vary in hue, e.g. color:
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The three large flowers are the focal areas of the painting, so she decided to paint around them with more neutral shades of the pink, as the red in the photograph would have come forward too much:
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Last, she decided to have some fun with the pistils. The result reminds her of 18th-century wallpaper. She calls it “For Ms. Delany”:
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Why did she call it “For Ms. Delany”? In the late 18th century, the 72-year-old Mary Granville Pendarves Delany (1700–1788) began making cut paper collages in the manner of a botanical painting, or as she described it “…a new way of imitating flowers”. Over the next ten years, she created roughly 1,000 of these paper “mosaicks” that are of such accuracy and artistry as to be compared to the great botanical illustrations of the day. When completed, they were bound into ten volumes to become the Flora Delanica.
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Delany’s method was to form the plants from pieces of wallpaper or hand-colored paper that she had cut with a scalpel and small scissors. (11/15/15 issue of periodical "Desert Breeze”. )

The show goes up on January 10 through February 28 and there is a reception from 1 to 3 PM on January 31st. Looking forward to seeing you there!
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Interview with 4th Street Fine Art Artist Celena Peet

11/17/2020

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Please introduce yourself. Who are you? Where did you grow up? Where do you live?
I'm Celena Peet, an artist, graphic designer, and lover of plants and pets. I grew up in a small town called Hubbard, Iowa, and have been living in Oakland, California for the past 12 years.
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Tell us more about what you create. What style(s) do you work in, mediums, etc.
I call my work mixed-media fiber art - my pieces incorporate various fiber techniques, including embroidery, weaving, knitting, etc. as well as found vintage tools and toys, and objects from nature.
How long have you been creating?
I have always been interested in telling stories by making art, and have been intentionally creating art pieces for the last 25 years. I have been focused on sharing my work with others for the last 15 years or so.
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When you're not making your art, what do you do?
When I'm not making art, I take on freelance graphic design projects, tend a wild cottage garden in my front yard and far too many houseplants, walk my despotic chihuahua, and volunteer with groups including the Friends of the Oakland Tool Lending Library and Oakland Animal Services.
Is creativity a luxury or necessity for you? Tell us more about that.
Creativity is a necessity for me - it is part of everything I do. Making creative connections to solve visual and non-visual problems to better communicate is inherent to how I approach my life and the world around me.
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Where do you find inspiration?
I find inspiration everywhere from junk stores to natural landscapes to urban sidewalks to historical ruins to the hardware store. I am always wondering who was there before me, what lives objects lived before I encountered them, how materials could be used in an unexpected way, and how I can add to the story.​​
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Resident Artist Cindy Podren

10/21/2020

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I began painting about 20 years ago to distract myself after a personal loss. I had always wanted to paint, but the need to make a living, and the intimidation factor kept me away until then.  I am self-trained, with the help of many mentors, fellow painters, books, and museums. Currently, I paint acrylics and watercolors.

My focus is on the beauty of ordinary things. Sometimes I can only articulate what moves me by painting it. Of all elements of painting, it is color that most intrigues me.  
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In Fall 2019, I worked on acrylic pours, a fascinating combination of chemistry, chance and color.
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This year, with the need to shelter, I’ve turned to homely subjects, my backyard and flowers.  Here is my backyard:
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This is painted in acrylic.  I had fun with this, because I painted the frame to match and extend the design of the painting.
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In preparation for an upcoming show with an artist who does botanically accurate renderings, I have been working on painting flowers, mostly in watercolor, using a variety of techniques.  The first two were painted after gessoing the other side, which restricted the absorption ability of the paper:
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The next two were done with a freer hand and very quickly:
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I have a ways to go on this proposed show, but as long as it’s a joy to pick up a paint brush, I”ll keep painting.
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Prabin Badhia: Sheltering in Canvas

10/12/2020

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​Where I grew up, everyone was an artist - creating the structures and decorations of daily rituals and ceremonies. I am no different but took the practice seriously. My sense of security and my hope for prosperity were tied to my creative efforts. ​
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The only educational path that felt suitable for me was art even though I was not thinking of it as a career. After finishing my Bachelor in Fine Art in my home state of Odisha, I went to New Delhi for a Masters in the History of Art. Feeling detached in this unknown location, I developed my core values and the mindset to practice art. From here, my art brought me to New York City and then to my permanent home in the San Francisco Bay Area where I live with my wife and daughter. Art is the challenge, comfort, and consistency on my journey. As the second child of  six siblings, I am the one who has ventured furthest from home.
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Primarily I do figurative work and you might ask why this is my focus. Humans are a universal form in all geographic settings but with different feelings and expressions. I find a variety of emotions in human forms. In figure painting, I find the fundamentals of life. A human behaves differently based on their surroundings and the nature of the society or tribe they belong to. But the figure also has its own unique expression which is detached from the time and places. I am most interested to work on this aspect of human nature.
I start a painting without a preconceived thought. Even if I have something in mind, it loses its grip by the final stage. I do not predict my brushwork - I work to the edge of my canvas until there is no room to drag the brush any further. The frame of my canvas is the limit. Sometimes I like to be in the limitation which generates tremendous pressure to go beyond the edge or surface. This creates a visual energy within the canvas. ​
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At this point, you can call me an artist but I need to prove it truthfully. I want to go beyond the game of failure or success.

The lockdown situation gives an example to understand the pressure of creative urge within limitations. All of my art works I have done during this time are a struggle to escape from the limitations. Deliberately I chose a color palate - predominantly grey and brown. Each treatment or element has its own struggle, conflict, and conclusion. Society is going through a change due to the pandemic, and the part I can control is my own discipline in my art. I find shelter in my canvas.
One of the art works from this series is called “Stuck” which is featured in the 34th Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition 2020 and selected for honorable mention and purchase by the City of Emeryville for their Public Art Collection.
Come and shelter in my canvas.  
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Catching Up with Resident Artist Greg Urban

8/4/2020

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​My name is Greg and my work and art meld into one. Like many others during this pandemic my work life has been adversely affected.  After over four months off, I am finally back out running a tugboat and doing what I truly love.
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Moored in Richmond 29 July 2020
As my photography and art started with my desire to share my office view from the tug and being stuck ashore, out of work, has limited me to working with old images and continuing with experimentation transferring digital imagery into laser wood cut pieces.
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Commission Sailboat Laser Wood Cut 10” x 15”
I was super excited to get back out on the water and get some shots through the wheelhouse windows and off the tug.  One night, after a long twelve hour watch, I was talking to one of the guys on the tug about my Office View Series and the series origins in 2010. After showing him some photos, jokingly I asked if I could take his photo. I’ve never done any portrait photography at all- for some reason it has always scared and intimidated me. Anyway- this one photo of Casey inspired me to start a new series. “Faces On The Water”
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Casey 1 August 2020
In this new series I’ll be featuring gritty portraits of the people I share my work world with.  The marine industry is filled with wonderful people from all over, with diverse cultures and backgrounds. In my Office View Series that I started on LinkedIn in 2010, I’ve attempted to share my view out of the wheelhouse windows. Now I turn my lenses towards my co-workers and office mates. I hope that this new series is as well received as my last. I feel I’ve grown in my art and my photography and perhaps this will help me overcome a long fear of portrait photography.
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Shane 2 August 2020
During these trying times I try to remember my many blessings, one is the blessing and the honor to be part of this amazing 4th Street Fine Art cooperative.  Our gallery, like so many businesses, across not only our country but across the entire world, has experienced closures and setbacks. I strongly believe in building and supporting the arts and the artists around me. Let us all continue to count our blessings and support local business and artisans when and where possible.
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Working 31 July 2020
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The Ties That Bind: Keeping Our Gallery Together During the Pandemic

7/24/2020

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By Sherrod Blankner
​When the news came on March 19th that all of California had to shelter-in-place and our gallery had close its doors immediately, we began to wonder if our little store would be a casualty of the pandemic. Our co-op had to pivot quickly from a brick-and-mortar gallery to an online ecommerce platform. (link to https://www.4thstreetfineartshop.com). Though we don’t yet know the future for our gallery, I wanted to write about the history of our group in this blog post, to give you, readers, an idea of the deep bonds that may help us survive.
I joined the studio in 2003, when it was operating as “4th Street Studio” and located at 4th and Virginia. At the time, I was thirty-three, recently married and new to the East Bay. Like many of the artists, I worked a day job and dreamed of the day when I could paint full time. 
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The author, Sherrod Blankner, one of the artists at Street Fine Art, and her husband Andy Clason in 2004 at the old 4th Street Studio
For ten years, the gallery was run by our fearless leader, Gera Hasse, who created a welcoming and creative atmosphere for all her artists. Because she handled all the stressful parts of the gallery, like making sales, paying rent and publicity, we artists just painted, lunched, and philosophized. Overflowing receptions and rockin’ Halloween parties symbolized the good times at the studio.
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Gera Hasse (left), Leader of the original 4th Street Studio, in 2009
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Artists of 4th Street Studio, circa 2010
In 2011, we experienced a near-death experience, when we lost our lease at our old location. Many of us could not imagine our group being scattered to the winds, never to be together again. In small scouting parties, we began searching for a new location that could hold at least fifteen people. The still lingering slump from the 2008 financial crisis helped us, for rents were low at the time. After multiple false starts we settled on a new lease three blocks from our old location. We moved into 2000 4th Street in October, 2012.
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“Beauty and Contrast” Reception in 2018, 4th Street Fine Art at 2000 4th Street
​In our new location, we operate as a co-op, with the work distributed across our eighteen members. Learning to run a gallery as a group proved challenging. We’ve all had moments when we wanted to storm out in a huff and say “I’m never talking to you again!” but somehow we have persevered. After eight years in the new location, our doors are still open and a core group of the original members remains. New members have enlivened our group and schooled us in the latest technology to make and sell art. 

When COVID-19 hit, like many people, we thought it would last a month or two. Now we understand we may be facing a year of upheaval, with unexpected closures or little foot traffic. Still, when we met to decide whether we should give up, everyone voted no. The ties that bind us are long years of working together. We have given each other critiques, shared supplies, strategized on shows, consoled each other on failures and cheered (maybe a bit jealously) when some of our members scored shows in New York. We have never said the word “love” in our by-laws and mission statements but not giving up is a form of love. I am typical of many of our members—I got older, never really quit the day job or got famous, but I still smile with pleasure every time I pick up a paint brush. That’s why we still make art. 

Come by, friends, because we are still open!   
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The author, 17 years after joining 4th Street Fine Art, painting in the new studio
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Catching Up With Artist Valerie Sobel

7/7/2020

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It’s taken me a little while to settle down and focus on making something specific these past few weeks. The world has been ravaged by a virus that prompted acts of courage, as well as political calculations and irrational policies. As during any crisis, heroes saved the day or at least the hour; villains, idiots, and villainous idiots gave humans a bad name. The majority of us, mere mortals, caught in between, tried to simply figure out what to do. 
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One thing soon became clear to most: the fastest antidote to the pandemic, if not to the virus itself, was self-isolation. As one of the privileged few not immediately (physically or economically) at risk, I was barely affected by the confinement orders themselves. The disease's progression, the wave of suffering it created, and the uncertainty of the future have dragged me down. I can't help but worry about my more vulnerable friends and family members. I am especially weary of the distance separating me from my aging parents, who live on another continent, and whom I probably won't be able to visit for a very long time. 
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Still, well aware of my good fortune to be able to "shelter in place" in a green and peaceful environment, I have set up shop in my backyard. Using leftover wire from previous projects, I have been making small sculptures. Some are reminiscent of trees, others pod-like. I thought to liven them up with lichen collected from fallen branches and twigs during walks. I added air plants for variety, and because they, like lichen, survive on nutrients in the air, light and a simple, if regular, spritz of water. 
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Once again, making art has helped me to process chaos and make some sense of it. These miniature ecosystems remind me of life during the pandemic. Arranging plants and lichen in their various wire niches, I think of our homes containing our lives, and families having to share limited space. Some of them are reunited after living independently, a challenging yet worthy exercise in communication and adaptability.
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I look at my “life pods", and they make me smile. I remember the words of a teacher I recently heard interviewed (on podcast The Daily, “The Struggle to Teach From Afar”). She talked about how she was envisioning her classroom during the pandemic. She said one of the things she was going to miss most was the "calming caddy." It was a collection of simple things, such as a little stuffed animal or scented lotion. A child could pick these items up to help them deal with powerful emotions and bring them gently back to the classroom. 
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I hope everyone can find a little something to lift their spirits and lighten, even briefly, the weight of the world on their shoulders, a little something to remind them of how life, even when confined, can flourish. One silver lining of the pandemic might be how it makes us look inwards and, if only for a minute, find pleasure and hope in simple things. 
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An Introduction to Michael Sacramento's Urban Inspired Series

6/8/2020

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Here are a few words from our artist, Michael Sacramento, regarding his current series: Urban Inspired
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My collaged paintings are created with fragments of images, objects, textures and colors that are inspired by my day to day observations - from street scenes, billboards and posters to often overlooked surfaces, birds and architectural elements. The process of collecting and finding inspiration from these visual cues, then using them to create a new visual experience, is my choice of intuitive self expression.
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Each painting begins on the computer, where I rummage through digital images that I have collected from my wanderings about town and life. My favorite images are of various surfaces (like asphalt, wood and metal), street birds and graffiti, and “magazine” portraits. When an image captures my attention, I use a program to cut, crop and change the colors. Then I place the image in an inventory that I use for the actual painting.
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The process of creating the physical painting begins with a surface that I prepare with a combination of metal, plywood, pumice gel, acrylic sheets and acrylic medium. This combination is inspired by the aesthetics of functional elements from city buildings and streets. Then, I paint them with washes of acrylic to further emphasize the formalistic qualities of the surface. Once the surface is prepared, I begin to transfer and paint my digital imagery through various techniques. Most times, I paint focal images on plexiglass and lay them a few millimeters over the surface. The result is an amalgam of my various artistic interests.
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These Urban Inspired paintings are a body of work where I incorporate various inspirations into one. This method of integrating seemingly independent images, materials and surfaces is my offering to the world. It is my fullest and most honest self expression.

Consequently this new body of work can be perceived as an analog to the human experience and how independent entities can be interdependent to create a higher, more textured and layered existence.
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