The Fields
Inspiration: Jorie Graham's poem, The Field Anselm Kiefer's painting, The Order of Angels 1983/84
Dean Rader, a San Francisco poet and friend introduced me to Jorie Graham’s ekphrastic poem, The Field. Graham’s poem is a response to Ansel Kiefer’s monumental painting, The Order of Angels. As opposed to a description of the painting, Dean feels that Graham is trying to give the reader a way to work through the poem, using language to allow the reader to feel what the viewer of the painting might feel when looking at the painting. Many things about the poem connect with the painting. The painting, chaotic and broken are replicated by both the lyrical content of Graham’s words as well as the visual placement of the words on the page. The juxtaposed painted pages, influenced by Graham’s poem, make reference to Kiefer’s painting.
My interpretation of the poem places emphasis on the visual elements of Graham’s poetry by presenting the letters and words of her poem as abstract bars. With the words and their content removed, the abstraction reinforces the the language pattern as a field. Colons and slashes in the poem, visually emphasized and in abstract form, can be seen as connecting to the rock patterns in Kiefer’s painting. Taking the idea of “fields” a bit farther in my work, I present the words of Graham”s poem in a horizontal format to capture the power and chaos of the Kiefer painting. On the alternate pages I introduce parts of the poem, and phrases that give the reader a hint of the content of Graham’s poem.
My interpretation of the poem places emphasis on the visual elements of Graham’s poetry by presenting the letters and words of her poem as abstract bars. With the words and their content removed, the abstraction reinforces the the language pattern as a field. Colons and slashes in the poem, visually emphasized and in abstract form, can be seen as connecting to the rock patterns in Kiefer’s painting. Taking the idea of “fields” a bit farther in my work, I present the words of Graham”s poem in a horizontal format to capture the power and chaos of the Kiefer painting. On the alternate pages I introduce parts of the poem, and phrases that give the reader a hint of the content of Graham’s poem.
Selected pages
Detail of page 11
The Cover
The cover and interior painted pages were experimental papers originally made by and rejected by Amanda Degener of Cave Paper. The papers were included as packing material with one of my orders. I painted the pages and backed the one page used for the cover.
The cover and interior painted pages were experimental papers originally made by and rejected by Amanda Degener of Cave Paper. The papers were included as packing material with one of my orders. I painted the pages and backed the one page used for the cover.
A Unique book, 24 pages, gouache, water color, ink and gold and palladium leaf. A double page spread is 28 x 11.5 inches