All work, gathered in groups

Smooth, birch

Conversations with nature combined with considerations of natural world as resource and how that resource returns to the world after being used up, let go or after death. There are nods to those no longer here, friends as world resource, who nurture us through the return of their bodies, returning as embers to start fires in future generations. The artist is present here too, play capturing this youth and failing to capture what stands in front of them.

Smelt

Spanning the decades between 9/11 and Covid, Smelt captures silences, loss and reflections on the violence through the lens of history and fairytale. Shining through the work are glimpses of community, family and resilience.

Be as if

These works reflect on works that come before them. Holding a mirror to language penned before they were written, they reflect on style, on subject and link between the printed word and the world in front of us. Sometimes a found volume of poems, an email after an election, or the design of a wine bottle’s label can speak out beyond our routine and pull us into a broader commune with time. A kind of time, neither wave nor particle, that both circles and proceeds.

The Balaam Cantos

Balaam, one of the seven gentile prophets, was to curse Israel on orders of Balak, the king of Moab. After a first attempt at Baal, a second attempt attempt at Pisgah and a third attempt at Peor, building seven alters at each peak, Balaam guided by Yahweh continues to bless his targets instead. He is pictured as having one blind eye and one lame foot, a symbol of his corruption with which he attempts to entice the Israelites. Balaam, in contrast to Moses is a seer of multiple gods and also considered a forecaster of impending destruction (maybe his own at the age of Christ by stoning, burning, decapitation and strangling). The Balaam Cantos revisit Balaam and the complexities of the story, offering new approaches to make modern an ancient set of texts.

Finely wrought

A collection of 115 short poems constrained by a 140 character limit first published on the social network Twitter, currently known as X. These poems are quickly penned, imperfect reflections on topics relevant to the day and are presented as originally published. Despite the current development of the social network, Twitter was a place for capturing these koans--it’s limitations perfect as a constraint as valid as any other poetic form. You may wish to use keyboard shortcuts to read through the collection more easily.

Works in progress

In progress. Move along, nothing to see.