The Flower Myths
A visual art capstone project
A visual art capstone project
How do we reconcile the violence of wilderness with the empathy of humanity? How do we integrate the sterile quality of society with the unabashed beauty of the nature? We tell stories. We explain questions away with crafted narratives, tragically human characters, and epic adventures. We listen, remember, and retell, and at some point the narrative transcends consciousness and becomes myth.
This is the medium in which “The Flower Myths” primarily operates. Myths are interwoven into the substrate of our oral cultures. They shape the lenses through which we view much of the natural world around us in an associative manner, and form the foundation for many of our conceptual metaphors. This text attempts to engage with this fabric by complicating this narrative culture.
This is the medium in which “The Flower Myths” primarily operates. Myths are interwoven into the substrate of our oral cultures. They shape the lenses through which we view much of the natural world around us in an associative manner, and form the foundation for many of our conceptual metaphors. This text attempts to engage with this fabric by complicating this narrative culture.
“The Flower Myths” retells the ancient Greek myths in which flowers were created as the result youths who met tragic deaths. The poems draw from several influences, such as Japanese haikus and the American imagist movement, along with Anne Sexton’s “Transformations” – a modern retelling of Grimm’s fairytales. The illustrations are inspired by scientific illustrations – chiefly medical & anatomical diagrams and botanical drawings.
The final form that this product takes is, like its sources, something transformed from the original essence. When I initially conceptualized “The Flower Myths,” I envisioned a piece that was much more text. Many of my earlier poem drafts span multiple pages in narrative, as I drew my chief inspiration from Sexton’s work. Halfway through the arc of this project, I re-evaluated this poetic strategy and reduced my poems to favor imagery and atmosphere. Drawing upon imagist and haiku influences, I composed a stricter line structure for my poems. Much like the negative space between drawn shapes, what is not said within these lines creates as much meaning as what remains. I am much happier with the result.
