It’s funny. Neither Mia nor I remember the moment when we met but it was some time in the second half of 2015 in Berlin. And it was kismet, as we say. I loved the way she talked about art and its relationship to social issues. Then a short time later, in November that year, my husband John and I traveled to Frankfurt for a representational trip. I was the speaker and honored guest at a lunch organized for professional women, and I think Mia may have attended. The next day several of us toured Mia’s art show “What is Your Place of Protection?”, strongly themed around the ongoing refugee crisis. Mia had tracked the crisis a long time before the huge waves of refugees began arriving in September 2015.
She had actually taken “Pegasus,” a stuffed life-sized horse along with her as she followed the refugee trail. Pegasus had, as she said, “one wing in the light and the other in the darkness,” because of life’s constant duality. And this idea shows up in her later “LOVE/HATE” anagram pieces as well. The wings were covered with small objets Mia had collected on her journey. It was powerful and beautiful and emotional. I knew then and there I wanted to put Pegasus on display for Human Rights Watch and 200 supporters in Berlin for its June 2016 summit. And the rest, as they say, is history — friendship and partnership many times over.
