When we turn the dirt
With our palms cupped like shovels
Our filthy hands can wash one another’s
And not one speck will remain
And I do believe it’s true
That there are roads left in both of our shoes
But if the silence takes you
Then I hope it takes me too….
from “Soul meets Body”-Death Cab for Cutie, 2005
What artist does not ponder their commitment to self expression? Is it an ego-driven pursuit to want evoke life experience in a universally recognizable language?
Knowing what is behind the work , to work with INTENT separates the superficial and trite from the meaningful and profound. At least I believe an artist has a better CHANCE at depth and understanding if they know why they create.
Searching for meaning. What a job. It is a process of knowing yourself and embracing the ebb and flow of life’s elations and disasters. Art can evoke and document a world within us – it can relay the humanity and emotions that set us apart from all other living organisms.
I continue to be challenged by what is important , what I have seen through my eyes, and what is distilled through the work- art, love, family,school, organizational, and self. I am trying to put this mosaic together everyday.
Things shift and winds move sands
Dunes look changed by times breath
Today’s sorrow erodes to flatness
Erasing the fire and killing the flames
Days they pass and the photos fade
your face gets softer and less important
the earth swells beneath me
away from you
under my feet I see the ash
the ruins of mouths burnt together
the sinew of your clenched fingers
around my still swollen beating heart.
– K.A. 2010
