ART 54
River Mortenson
Project#8
Here are some illustrations I created for three poems I wrote. They are all landscapes and seem to fit in with the topic of utopia. They are written by a fictional character of my mine called ingenue. White is about questioning the meaning of a domesticated animal's limited life and intelligence. Black has a theme that might be called "dystopic" and gold "utopic".
i try to concentrate make her face sharp
as it s skittering through my camera lens
she must be afraid for her newly born
they re deceptively clumsy hard to catch
their skins are loose poked and bumped with bones
startling white against the winter green
not like her or the other filthy ewes
with little mind seen in their slotted eyes
but then i talk to her as if she talks
and walk in detours to avert her fears
she is finally still in a crowded sky
lost in the icy sheets that make me squint
i want the white to be her spiky head
but she is only dark against the bright
pulp fictions perverse and gratuitous
excruciatingly painful to watch
as the hooded man drags along his chain
although not as bad as reservoir dogs
when a psychotic mutilates an ear
my friends leave me in a late night s drizzle
the headlights glistening the ruts of mud
blinding me with their dazzling reflections
i shut my eyes and my lids become red
as the light beams swerve into the hollow
my lids darken with sparking implosions
humans like to close their eyes and let go
surrender to the vacancy of black
i find it distressing to surrender
what fascinates me about the divine
are the representations of the light
gold leaf in the concentric woven halos
swirling above the angel and mary
in botticelli s annunciation
spines radiating from the infant christ
as he lies peacefully on the page
of an illuminated manuscript
your christ shines like your sun undimmed by hate
free to rise in the green air to surround
the blushing cheeks of those who adore him
to shine his easy light on those who love
on those who desparately want to love
and on those who hate and refuse to love
