Text for solo exhibition The Wild Word at David Petersen Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
The Wild Word
Unlike the philosopher, the poet can come right out and say it: beauty wants only to be seen. No interpretation, no second life, circulation. That snake too shy for grasses—it won’t ask for that either. Beauty won’t be reduced to aesthetic consequence. Image and language are equal vehicles for thought. Consider if, consider blue, consider X.
Who sees? It’s a great question. An empty palm, while anxiously gnawing at the visible—holds open uncertainty (not the same as doubt!) and offers: here it is, yes. It’s like this now.
Guide to Europe, 2016, Oil on panel in frame, 28 3/4 x 23 1/4 inches