noun
the use of detailed description of a work of visual art as a literary device.
ek·phra·sis
/ˈekfrəsəs/
Artist’s Spotlight
RAINY DAY SAMURAI SAKE ON THE BULLET TRAIN TO KYOTO- ACRYLIC ON CANVAS WITRH CUSTOM FRAME, POEM ON REVERSE SIDE. APPROX 26 X 28. COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST. AVAILABLE FOR SALE $850.00
THIS PIECE REPRESENTS A NEW DIRECTION IN MY WORK. BORDERING ON A SURREALIST APPROACH WHERE THE SUBJECT AND CONTENT EVOLVE FROM A DISTANT MEMORY OF AN EXPERIENCE. THERE IS A CALLIGRAPHIC IMAGE REPRESENTED THAT IS ONLY TO EVOKE AN ASAIN SENSE. IT IS NOT MEANT TO BE UNDERSTOOD BUT RATHER TO ACCENT THE PIECE AS WELL AS DISTANCE THE VIEWER FROM ACTUALLY KNOWING THE SUBJECT. I WANT THE VIEWER TO HAVE A VISCERAL UNDERSTANDING FROM THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF COLOR, FORM AND SYMBOLISM.
FOR INSTANCE THE WHITE “FAN LIKE SHAPE”, THE FAUX CALLIGRAPHY ACCENTS AND EVEN THE FRAME STYLED TO EKOKE THE ARMOR OF EDO ERA SAMURAI ALL MIX WITH THE RIPPLE LIKE CIRCULAR SHAPES THAT REFERENCE THE RIPPLES ON THE SURFACE OF THE PUDDLE THAT THE POEMS CHARACTER HAS PULLED HIS FOOT FROM.
Walking like a crab, I step sideways to avoid the run off rounding the curb. Suddenly my umbrella punches another, cold spray slaps my face, it tastes like dirty metal.
My foot submerges into a lake of a puddle.
My foot pulls up and ripples appear from the dripping below my shoe.
a foil label swims by a button, a torn gum wrapper, a drowned weed. The neon sign is reflected on the surface, it wiggles.
I arrive at the train and shape myself to a seat. Glossy girls in plastic ponchos squeeze past me as I squirm to sit.
Later I get two hot sakes to stay warm.
The illustration of a samurai on the label has a helmet on that’s stylized after a great octopus. A blurry landscape whizzes by at 120 miles an hour. I feel I am in an aquarium and the flashing street lights make me think it’s feeding time or something is getting close to my tank. Im tired, wet and the seat is too small. I tip my head back close my eyes and sleep. I dream I will be a giant squid by the time we reach Tokyo. No one can stop me.
SEVERAL DECADES AGO WHEN I WOULD SPEND WEEKS IN JAPAN I WOULD FEEL, ALONE, LOST AND ALIENATED. I WAS THE VISUAL DIRECTOR OF THE GREAT CHINA MANUFACTURER, NORITAKE CHINA COMPANY. THEY WERE WONDERFUL AND INTERESTING PEOPLE WHO TOOK GREAT CARE OF ME WHEN I WAS THERE WORKING WITH CREATING SHOWROOMS IN TOKYO OR NAGOYA. YET, ON MY DAYS OUT ALONE, IT WOULD BE OBVIOUS THAT I WAS A FOREIGN VISITOR. UNLIKE OTHER LANGUAGES THAT USE OUR ALPHABET, OR LATIN ORIGINS, CALLIGRAPHY MAKES EVEN SIMPLE UNDERSTANDINGS IMPOSSIBLE. SO I WOULD DRIFT THROUGH STREETS AND SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS AND FEEL LIKE I WAS CHILD AT TIMES. YET THE GREAT MUSEMS AND CULTURAL SITES NEEDED NO WORDS TO ME. I VISUALLY ABSORBED THE CRAFT, THE STYLES, THE DETAILS AND WORKMANSHIP OF IT ALL. FROM BONSAI GARDENS TO IKEBANA DISPLAYS TO SHINTO TEMPLES, JAPAN IS A VISUAL EXPLOSION OF ARTISTIC DESIGN. MANY OF THE RESTAURANTS HAVE PLASTIC REPRESENTATIONS ON DISPLAY OF THE FOODS ON THE MENU, SO EATING WAS JUST A MATTER OF POINTING AND A FEW LINES OF JAPANESE I COULD SPEAK ( WATER PLEASE-MIZU KUDASI-THANKS-DOMO. DOMO IS LIKE ARIGATO BUT A SHORTER SLANG. IT TRANSLATES TO ‘VERY MUCH’ BUT LIKE ARIGATO MEANS THANKS. ANYWAY!- I WOULD DRINK SAKE AND NOT THAT I WOULD OVER INDULGE, BUT I ADMIT, THE EDGES WERE SOFTENED.. SO FROM THIS SORT OF FRAGMENTED MEMORY, THIS PAINTING AND THIS POEM ARRIVED.
CATCHING MY REFLECTION AT THE WINDOW AT BERGDOF’S
2004 ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, CUSTOM HAND MADE FRAME, APPROX 27 X 29
$850.00
THIS NEW PIECE FROM SUMMER OF 2024 IS STILL ANOTHER ABSTRACTION WITH A SURREALIST INTENT. IMAGES OF COLORFUL AND ABSTRACT SHAPES ARE SOMEWHAT CAPTURED BEHIND BARS OF BLACK PAINT. SOMETHING IS GOING ON IN THE EARLY LAYERS OF THE PAINTING WHICH VIEWERS NEED TO WONDER ABOUT. LIKE EXOTIC CREATURES AT A ZOO OR LIKE FASHION UNDER GLASS, WE ARE ABLE TO LOOK AND NOT TOUCH, THE SEPARATION WORKS TO NOT LET SOMETHING OUT OR ANOTHER THING IN. BERGDORF GOODMAN TO ME IS ONE OF THE FINEST RETAILERS FOR USING THEIR WINDOWS TO CREATE A SPECTACLE, AN ILLUSTRIOUS SETTING FOR A RARE OR LIMITED ITEM OF CLOTHING. THE UNIQUE DISPLAY OR SITUATION CREATES A FANTASY OR SURREAL ENVIRONMENT. THIS MAKES THE VIEWER STOP AND WONDER WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT? OF COURSE THE STAR OF THE SCENE IS THE DRESS OR THE FASHION EXHIBITED SO THE VIEWER MUST IMAGINE WHAT MIGHT IT FEEL LIKE TO WEAR THIS? WILL I FEEL AS UNIQUE OR SPECIAL AS THIS SUBJECT DOES? ITS NOT A MATTER OF “HOW MUCH IS THAT DOGGY IN THE WINDOW?” IN A SENSE, BUT HOW DO I GET THAT ITEM THAT WILL MAKE ME FEEL LIKE THE MOST WONDERFUL AND AMAZING BEING ON EARTH?
AGAIN, THE SUBJECT IS COMPLETELY IMAGINED FROM AN INSTANTANEOUS MEMORY OF SEEING MY REFECTION IN THE WINDOW OF THIS HIGHLY CREATIVE AND PRESTIGIOUS RETAILER THAT TAKES THE SPECIAL TO SUBLIME.
Catching My Reflection in the Window at Bergdorf’s -
It is the place of dreams under glass.
A reality from another wonderland.
Alices in $10,000.00 dresses,
mad hatters in Tom Ford tuxedos
going to a midnight party
at the penthouse of Aladdin
on New Year’s Eve.
You can ride an ostrich
to a tea party.
The forest is covered
in tiny mirror tiles.
Typewriters
can fly.
People pass behind me.
We are all just shadows and glimmers
stuck in a world of noisy skies
of dirty air.
They remind me how thick the glass really is.
Yet I stare in for just a few seconds more,
imagining the secret password
is on the tip of my
brightly polished
sterling silver
tongue.
As Above, So Below
As Above, So Below
"As Above, So Below" by Ed Lent, writing as Ezra Lovecroft, is a collection of poems that transform ordinary moments into extraordinary psychological and visual experiences. The poems are inspired by a miraculous encounter Ezra had after a mobility scooter accident, wherein the fantastical meets the mundane. This book invites readers to explore the profound and often unseen connections between everyday life and the mystical.