Flag Waiver: Artist Michael Stevens wants ‘patriotism with heart’

Stevens’ cones are bullets and the artist has made malleable these killing objects and turned them into pleas for compassion: bullets take the place of the stars in the American flag, and a heart-shaped flag bears words such as forgiveness, tolerance, equanimity, and love.

“Patriotism has been commercialized and we’ve been sold out,” Stevens said. “I’ve been tearing it apart. And it’s come to this.” He said he shares the view of many he has spoken with who believe themselves patriots but are currently uncomfortable flying the flag.

“Patriotism is heart, or it should be. But it seems now it’s all shit and violence, and so I made these to start to show, let’s get some heart back in patriotism.”

Artists create from any number of standpoints: personal experience, memory, input and impulses from their environment, and broader insights from media and perception of the world.

These viewpoints are vividly rendered in the “Art as Activism” exhibit at Columbia Center the Arts, running through April 1. Works in the exhibit address racism, violence of many kinds, colonialism, sexism, environmental degradation, class, freedom of expression, economic inequality, and cultural and national identity. Pottery, photographs, multi-media, metal, drawings, collage, watercolors and more are all on view. The center, 215 Cascade St., is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Stevens’ works stem from his war experience in Vietnam and as a counselor to veterans. Stevens, 71, retired last year but still works one day a week in Hood River, where he is currently working with a veteran and his family. He is particularly interested in how his art will be viewed by veterans.

“These pieces are about trauma and memory and they are about ‘how do you remove these memories from your mind which are traumatized because of the war?’” Stevens said. “It could be any trauma, a road accident or homicide, but these come from the war, these images are locked on my brain, and therapy is about trying to deal with emotion, to try to resolve them. These are about resolving memory and diminishing memory of trauma. So I have taken subjects that represent trauma, like bullets, and I began to shape them and change them as like changing (emotions) in therapy.”