Visual response to poem: 'I come from...'

 Neon nights, 2015

 

'I Come From'

 

I come from an unknown wilderness,

Streetlights glowing,

Sirens sound, lost but not found

I come from a world of rule,

History is formed,

Another cold war, no money for the poor

I come from a life of art,

Monet's paintings

Creating a surge of emotions,

Colours splashed on the page,

Like people escaping their reality of age.

I come from a young generation,

Drinking more than recommended.

I'm a dreamer, a believer, my heart's a

seeker.

Most of all, I come from an open road,

Trying to seek a home sweet home.

 

Roseanne Ganley  

 

This poem begins with a dystopian view of the world. 

 

The narrator creates a sense of estrangement from a world which is beyond the control of its inhabitants. 

The first image is of a wilderness - an open road - then we taken through the bleakness of a world in which emotions are expressed in art or otherwise drowned out by alcohol. 

 

But then the narrator shares her quest: she believes a better life is possible; she is seeking

home. 

 

 

 Time Traveller, 2015

 Vortex, 2015

 

 Untitled, 2015

 

Neon Nights and Time Traveller are my visual responses to Roseanne's poem.  I produced a series of images e.g. responses to the wilderness, to the cold war and to the sense of the individual negotiating the challenges of surviving in a complex world perpetually in a state of flux.

These two images respond to the colours of the emotions generated by the thoughts expressed in the poem.  They reflect a sense of energy, light and transformation; and hope. 

 Open Road, 2015

 

This image is inspired by a sense of the 'open road' of life.  The tunnel like folds demonstrate how thoughts and memories swirl around us; some make us fearful for awhile, others excite and intrigue us; they all hold us into the folds of time.   

 

  Wilderness, 2015

 Cold War, 2015

 

Roseanne selected Vortex and the Untitled image for her end a year show.  The images will be enlarged to 20" x 16" and exhibited alongside her poem in June, 2015.