ON I

Poem by Eldon Taylor

Each of us has an "I" somewhere in our understanding
of self. The "I" may even have a specific body location.
The "I"...

ON I

Poem by Eldon Taylor

Each of us has an "I" somewhere in our understanding
of self. The "I" may even have a specific body location.
The "I" is a representation of our illusion of
separateness. The "I" is where hurt, grief, pain, joy, and
fun takes place mentally, to most at least.
The "I" is not as much a thing as a reference point. Just
as two dots form or equal a straight line and the dots
themselves are reference points, so the "I" is but a
representation of some point of consciousness
participating in an event that necessarily involves all
consciousness.

 

THE STORY

Do you remember the first 21 days of the Lockdown?

I participated in an artist challenge in which we created art every day for 21 days (with a couple of added extra days of lockdown). I was house-sitting for my mother and didn't have access to my creative studio, so I attempted to improvise. I discovered cable ties in the kitchen drawer and was impressed by their flexibility and strength. I set out to make sculptural drawings out of wire ties.

Post-Lockdown I was still experimenting with cable ties when I came up with the "Simple T.E.S.T." collection. It demonstrated my sculptural versatility for working outside of the studio. I then chose to journal my thoughts and feelings when I re-entered society after a period of severe self-isolation. My awareness was at its peak as I kept a visual record of my encounters with people and self-observed them.

Eldon Taylor's poetry collection, "Simple Things and Simple Thoughts," drew me in. Taylor, at the same time, added a new depth to the emotion or issue I was dealing with at the moment. He helped me to see things from other angles, liberating me from any preconceived notions or associations I had with the issue.

Visions generally arise as I am reading the poetry while producing the artworks. I would frequently build shapes out of cable ties and match them to the text. Other times, I'd get ideas from photographs in the National Geographic 1980s collection and start piecing them together. Every work of art is the result of a "sense-feeling" process.

I was also drawn to artwork with a communicative nature. I researched Rebus Codes and began experimenting. A Rebus Code is a type of puzzle that uses illustrated graphics and individual letters to represent words or phrases.

A variety of genres, including Contemporary Modernity, Abstraction, Surrealism, and Impressionism, have affected the colour palette.

There is a healing quality to the works of art that is revealed after spending time with the image and poetry.