Playing with Image and Sequence

The assignment for this week gave me the inspiration to create words and images to express what makes me who I am!

The Blank Piece

Every morning,

there is always 

Something new to be painted.

Something new to be written.

The canvas and the paper

are always ready for new imagination.

Something new to be conveyed.

Always ready for a new creation!

I ca paint

a distinctive image.

I can express

a different story every day.

I can reveal the colorful story

of the loving mother,

of the caring friend,

of the joyful dancer,

of the happy singer,

of the proud Latina!

Every morning: 

A living canvas

ready for a new scene.

An ambling paper

ready for a new verse.

The Blank Piece!

by Rocio Diaz

I combined some verses and pictures to create a partial sequence of the poem:

The Blank Piece!

The canvas and the paper are always ready for . . . . a new Creation!

      

  

. . . reveal the colorful story

of the loving mother,

of the caring friend,

of the joyful dancer,

of the happy singer,

of the proud Latina!

EKPHRASTIC POEM: LIGHTS ON!

"COSMIC WANDERLUST"

 

By Michiko Itatani

The “Cosmic Wanderlust” is a 96" X 78" oil painting. It was painted by Michiko Itatani in 2010 as part of a series based on the “human desire to reach out into the mental and physical space beyond our grasp, inward and outward.” Itatani recently donated this painting to Goshen College. 

In this painting, I see what appears to be an elegant ballroom or a theater hall. In trying to write the poem assigned for this week’s homework, I struggled to decide which voice I wanted to be: 1) a person, an object, or the paint itself; 2) the painter; or 3) me, the poet, perceiving the art.

 

This painting transported me to a ballroom in a fairy-tale story, where I can be the main character. Simultaneously, it inspired me a sense of amusement and wanted to express that feeling as a viewer. At the same time, since we have been trying to interpret what the painter might want to express in the painting, I could be the artist and explain my piece of art in a poem. Well, this is what I came up with:

 

Lights On!

Turn the lights on,
Let’s give this room a sparkling twist,
All the beautiful and well-dressed ladies 
are about to come.

It is time for some fun!

A graceful night of dancing and romance is approaching, and

This ballroom needs to look at its best.

With our stylish bright chandeliers 

And all the other colorful blue,

red, orange, pink, yellow and

black lights hanging from the ceiling,

Before the festive spell sets in.

Their handsome partners will accompany them

dressed in black tuxedos,

ready to dance and say meaningful words to their ears.

We need to illuminate their happy faces.

We want to create an impressive and delicate atmosphere.

Where these elegant couples

will enchant each other all night,

While they dance to the music.

Our captive décor

of the beautiful long and bright purple-red

stairways throughout the ballroom,

The different shades of gray and white

of the stair rails and the walls, and

The lights around the black painted frames of the entryways

and around the staircases 

Will enhance the ambiance of this great place.

It will create a night of unstoppable dancing.

It will inspire the need for these lovers

to express their love for one another.

Let’s hurry and get ready.

This ballroom is about to witness

another night of dancing and romance!

By Rocío Díaz

Source: GC News Release

GOLDEN RULE

I visited the Midwest Museum of American Art  located on Main Street in Elkhart, Indiana. There were a lot of interesting and beautiful pieces of art at the museum which made it very hard for me to pick one for this assignment. One piece of art that caught my attention was a painting titled the “Golden Rule” by Norman Rockwell.  This piece was a gift from Dr. Richard D. Burns from Elkhart, Indiana to the museum. 

The “Golden Rule” is part of an extensive collection of hand signed lithographs and collotypes that can be found on the museum’s second floor where there is a gallery dedicated completely to this famous American artist. This piece of art is one of two paintings hanging on a single wall and it is displayed on a corner by one of the entrances to the room.  The gallery is of a large size and there is nothing in the middle of the room. All the paintings are hanging on the walls around the room and there are reflectors hanging from the ceiling providing additional light to each painting. 

  

The original painting, “Do Unto Others,” was first published in the Saturday Evening Post on March 6, 1954. Rockwell’s “Golden Rule” appeared on the Saturday Evening Post cover on April 1, 1961. The painting illustrates people from different ages, religions, genders, and races. Some of them are dressed in traditional costumes while others are dressed in “regular” clothes based on their profession or their social status in society. You can see a total of 28 people in this painting. There are 13 children (9 boys and 4 girls), 15 adults (10 men and 5 women). 5 children are in women’s arms. Some are holding what could be a religious item. Only 5 people are looking towards the viewer, all the others are either looking down, to one side or have their eyes closed. Some of them have a concerned expression and some seem to be thinking or praying. You can see all shades of colors in this painting: reds, blues, greens, etc. The phrase “Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You” is painted in gold upper-case lettering on the lower mid-section of the painting. 

In regards to this painting, a United Nations website states that, “Rockwell wanted to illustrate how the Golden Rule was a common theme of all the major religions of the world, and depicted people of every race, creed and color with dignity and respect.” This is exactly what I perceived when I looked at this picture. Living in this day and time and knowing how diversity, in all its aspects, always creates big debates in our society, this picture gave me the sense that there are many that have and still are, fighting to create acceptance and equality in the world.

POEM

“Do Unto Others

As You Would Have Them

Do Unto You.”

Why would I do for others

What I want them to do for me?

Why would others want

What I want for myself?

I don’t need what others have,

I want what I need.

I am unique,

With different thoughts

Different feelings,

Different looks.

God made me this way,

Special,

Diverse,

One-off a kind,

Exceptional.

Don’t do unto me

What you want me

To do unto you.

Give me what I need:

Respect who I am,

Accept what I am,

Tolerate how I am

Understand what I am not,

Give me the freedom to just be me!