a lesson in letting go of everything trying to kill you
-
a collection of work exploring themes of restraint
Memento Mori
2022
Oil Pastel on Paper
“[…I imagined it must / be a spell, the flick of a witch’s wrist & / suddenly you wish your own kin bloody, / you wish his fingers gone limp.]”
-Olivia Gatwood, Life of the Party
Skin of a Man
2022
Oil Pastel on Paper
“We teach boys how to wear the skin of a man, but we also teach them how to raise that skin like a flag and draw blood for it.”
-Kyle “Guante” Tran Myrhe, A Love Song, A Death Rattle, A Battle Cry
Lip Lock
2022
Oil Pastel on Paper
“[Your missing
loves return to me/
as ghosts with staples
in their mouths. / … /
When a man comes
with a drill, I am not /
allowed to flinch
but the trembling /
hasn’t stopped since
I was born.]”
-Hadara Bar-Nadav, Fountain and Furnace
If I Can Still Bleed
2022
Oil Pastel on Paper
“[… / We have felt the heat / of those things most likely to kill us / & decided not to leave / our bones there. We’ve been / promised the world / for our silence, & we / continue to sing.]”
-Brenna Twohy, Swallowtail
And/Or
2022
Oil Pastel on Paper
“…
Me from that shadow— / The indelible buds,
Knuckles at shoulder-blades, the / Faces that
Shove into being, dragging / The lopped
Blood-caul of absences. / All night I carpenter
A space for the thing I am given, / A love
Of two wet eyes and a screech. / White spit
Of indifference! / The dark fruits revolve and fall.
The glass cracks across, / The image
Flees and aborts like dropped mercury.”
-Sylvia Plath, Thalidomide