(“Listen to the Fawn Lilies”, a poem written and read by Jennifer with a contextual exposition provided below.)
As I sat at my studio table, carefully trying to construct a piece (what I hope is a stepping stone to the vision of art I want to create) - I was overwhelmed by the implied meanings and emotions touched in its construction.
Most of my adult life has been lived on an escalating backdrop of environmental awareness, conservation urgency, and climate crisis. From the first “Save the Planet” book I bought in college in the early ‘90s to the bombardment of news we have today about the planetary changes already occurring - the environment has been a topic of concern battling a wedge of denialism and profit mongering throughout my lifetime. At the same time, it seems perversely appropriate, as a child born in the year of the moon landing which flamed our collective infatuation with this little blue-green marble in the sky, that concerns for our environment should thusly dominate my life. And as a witness to the history of my lifespan thus far, it’s incredibly frustrating to see all the ways this could have been avoided or mitigated. It’s easy to feel helpless in the current situation.
If you find yourself in this particular mental space, I do recommend taking in this short video by kurzgesagt - in a nutshell. They are promising a follow-up video to encourage individual action too, which I’m looking forward to seeing. (And thanks to my two children who both recently recommended this channel and video to me.)
I am naturally optimistic. And as I lean into my nature, I remain cautiously so. It is that caution, however, that I want to bring forward. I want to share it with thoughtful choices in my materials, processes, and words formed while feeling the weight outside my own perspective.
As I worked on my latest art and poem (text below), my thoughts were of the treasured spaces around me and the wildlife, without knowledge of the error of our ways, gently trekking across my path on this earth’s surface, not knowing of the perilous road ahead yet suffering a fate of our making.
It is their voice I wish to carry through my art. And even in the early amorphous current forms I shape, I hope to share their presence - be it in the organic lines, natural elements, delicate construction, and torn de-construction. And finally, with the slow-stitched threads holding these ghostly spirits together, I hope to share a future not yet fully determined.
Listen to the Fawn Lilies
Just out of reach the mist floats above quietly cloaking the great sentinels until drifting down to seduce me, stumbling, upon the uncertain path ahead where scarred souls are etched deep into the ghostly wood. Watching, waiting, revealing the raw self-inflicted wounds festering beneath a film of tired and beaten ancestral dust. Willing a simple plea. Take thread to needle and carefully stitch - plainly, thoughtfully, repeatedly - through hardship and denial to bind in beauty, strength, and hope, in the sharing of each story a tapestry formed in blood stained earthen fibers bearing witness to a cruelty of broken promises. And so I walk. I Listen. Wanting to remain hidden yet willfully coaxing my stitches across a landscape of painful memories in a galaxy of unknown futures, as moonlight and dust coalesce into these tear soaked and mud laden steps patiently assuring me that it is time to return to this earthly realm sheltered deep within the forest. Here. Wrapped wholly together in the warmth of quilted comfort. I, and this portentous apparition piercing cloth with bone as we bow down in harmony reaching out this final time to drink the dew drops formed upon each delicate star kissed petal of these newly born Fawn Lilies.
Please note: I recognize the audio file is rather rudimentary. I will soon be updating to a newer desktop computer which I hope will allow me to more easily edit and prepare files for this publication. (Although, to be fair, I realize that I still have a lot to learn, regardless of the editing tools at hand - both in the making of the poetry AND the reading and recording of it.) In the meantime, I appreicate your willingness to humor me in this endeavor!
Sincerely, Jennifer
edited 4/29/2022 to correct a grammatical error
Listen to the Fawn Lilies