Nakedness reveals itself. Nudity is placed on display.
John Berger, Ways of Seeing
Modeling is rigorous and unglamorous work; in the end, the model's
work becomes what the artist makes of it, and deservedly takes on a
life of its own. In a span of a 1, 5, 20 minutes, the model has to
reveal something more of herself than what is on display. Her goal is
to engage strangers with the pose--with the aliveness of it-while
taming her body into unnatural stillness.
I began composing haiku during the longer poses of figure modeling
sessions as a way of passing time. During breaks I scribble the
memorized lines and counted syllables on scraps of paper. Haiku is
the perfect form for writing about modeling: the unadorned,
meditative, and disciplined nature of the poetry
mirrors the act of modeling. As poet and translator Cid Corman
states, "Haiku...is almost throwaway-but savored. Feeling is
thought-is livingdying."
My challenge was to make a book of these poems. Everyone knows what
figurative art is all about, having seen paintings in museums and art
galleries of "nudes." Rarely does a viewer consider the environment
in which it was created. If models are given any thought at all,
generally it is as the object of a romantic liaison with the artist.
Resisting the urge to pair the scrolls with figurative art, I chose
to focus more on the momentary thoughts and feelings of the "object"
of the painting-to give the reader an experience of the other side of
figurative work, the side that is thrown away, savored.
Unique. Materials: satin, rayon, india ink,
Xerox transfer, wood.
