Nest Book

My friend, Shiela Hale, artist and thinker extraordinaire, just won first prize at the Contemporary Confrontations exhibition at Katonah Museum of Art in Katonah, New York. Her piece, "Nest Book I," invites the fascinated viewer into its nest of altered text. I love the way Shiela's mind gathers and reshapes elements from nature and language into something stunning and meaningful. Quoted in The Record-Review, Shiela says "Nature and culture are frequently presented as opposing forces. I am questioning that adversarial relationship and suggesting the possibility of a mutually enhancing alternative."

The exhibit runs through February 22, 2009. Over 800 artists entered the competition. 126 were chosen. Nan Rosenthal, former senior consultant for modern and contemporary art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was the juror. Congratulations, Shiela!

For more information on Shiela and her work, click here: Shiela Hale.

The photo was taken last week at the museum. Looking through the lens made me admire the assemblage even more.

Tulip, Feather, Woodgrain

One line of poetry casts its shadow into the next, patterns repeat, contrasts in sound underscore meaning. Key words and images pop, leaping to the eye like glossy magenta against rough deep gray. The tendrils of each line extend into the next -- encircling, clinging, claiming -- until the poem is woven into a living whole, each word inextricable.

In this photo, I tried to capture the way repeating patterns, shapes, and shadows rippled through the tulip, feather, and woodgrain, uniting them in a still life.

Photo taken 5/13/08. Click on image to enlarge. For more about repeating patterns and contrast (and metaphor), scroll down to the 6/12/08 post.