Cathy Weiss

Theme: Families & Belonging

I am interested in the different ways we can achieve a sense of belonging. We watch children navigate to find acceptance amongst their peers so to feel they belong. We watch people fleeing their homeland to find peace and safety in new lands. We move for love, work, education and to escape conflicts and find asylum. We move from one place where perhaps we don’t feel we belong looking for somewhere we do. People of different faiths and ideas are working together to try to bring peace and understanding to their homes.

Through watching and learning about the native wildlife where I live in Los Angeles I have witnessed the need for wildlife to have corridors to survive across the urban landscape. It is clear that a safe place is important for all living creatures. Our need to belong and be home is timeless and worldwide. For some, home is a physical place, and for others a spiritual place that no matter where we are our sense of belonging and home is within us. This most important need can tear us apart or with hope and understanding bring us together.