An Invitation from the Editor
When I first imagined inviting writers to respond to the images in Betty LaDuke’s Fire, Fury and Resilience exhibition, which opened at the Corvallis Museum on October 7th, I imagined an ekphrastic approach that was both descriptive and celebratory, in keeping with traditional understandings of ekphrasis as an art form. I know what ekphrasis is and what it isn’t, and I had planned to craft prompts that would encourage observation, invite awareness of texture, form and color, and engender ode.
What I was not prepared for–what I could not have imagined–was standing with Betty in the room where the paintings are hung, a room vibrating with light, the light emanating in waves from the images, the very air pulsing with color, as if the paintings themselves were drums, calling us back to hope, to joy, to life.
This show is a miracle, a small act of radical wisdom, funny and brave and tender, a sensory meditation on what we have lived through and what we have learned. There is color, yes. And also depth and texture. And forms that rise and fly and climb. The figures Betty has crafted stretch toward what we are becoming. They speak of the work of the now.
In conversation with Betty I learned that the images in the collection were created in response to specific events, images and exchanges featured in the news–local, regional or national–over the last four years. In this sense, they are both observational and conversational. They are one woman’s emphatic response to what we, and others, have been asked to endure.
Knowing this, I was compelled to revisit and expand my understanding of ekphrasis. The work we are being asked to do is not observational. We are being called into conversation with the world around us. We are being asked to recognize that when it comes to survival, there is no distinction between self and other, no line dividing ourselves from the world.
So I invite you to think of these prompts as an invitation to be inspired, not only by Betty’s images, but also by her process. Think of the work you do in response to her art as an encounter between representations in two mediums. As art inspired by life. As life inspired by art.
And if you have the opportunity and have not yet done so, visit the work itself, which will be at the Corvallis Museum through January 22, 2023. Allow these images to speak through you. It’s worth the journey, I assure you.
Use the prompt provided below to guide your writing, or take your own approach as suggested by the work.
Ekphrasis:
From the Greek: to explain out/ I describe. A vivid verbal description of a visual image. An encounter between representations in two mediums. Using one artistic medium to respond to another. Art inspired by art.
Ekphrastic Exchange:
This turtle has come to warn you of something.
Accept the warning, and ask for advice.
Use the prompt provided below to guide your writing, or take your own approach as suggested by the work.
Ekphrasis:
From the Greek: to explain out/ I describe. A vivid verbal description of a visual image. An encounter between representations in two mediums. Using one artistic medium to respond to another. Art inspired by art.
Ekphrastic Inquiry:
This turtle has something to ask you.
Consider the question, then answer as you wish.
Is there a question you wish to ask in return?
Use the prompt provided below to guide your writing, or take your own approach as suggested by the work.
Ekphrasis:
From the Greek: to explain out/ I describe. A vivid verbal description of a visual image. An encounter between representations in two mediums. Using one artistic medium to respond to another. Art inspired by art.
Ekphrastic Exchange:
This turtle has something to tell you. Listen.Then respond.
Use the prompt provided below to guide your writing, or take your own approach as suggested by the work.
Ekphrasis:
From the Greek: to explain out/ I describe. A vivid verbal description of a visual image. An encounter between representations in two mediums. Using one artistic medium to respond to another. Art inspired by art.
Ekphrastic Empathy:
Each of the figures in this image has recently learned something.
Choose one entity, and tell us what it now knows.
Use the prompt provided below to guide your writing, or take your own approach as suggested by the work.
Ekphrasis:
From the Greek: to explain out/ I describe. A vivid verbal description of a visual image. An encounter between representations in two mediums. Using one artistic medium to respond to another. Art inspired by art.
Ekphrastic Empathy:
The figures in this image have a story to tell.
Using the first person voice (I/we) allow them to tell that story.
Use the prompt provided below to guide your writing, or take your own approach as suggested by the work.
Ekphrasis:
From the Greek: to explain out/ I describe. A vivid verbal description of a visual image. An encounter between representations in two mediums. Using one artistic medium to respond to another. Art inspired by art.
Ekphrastic Exchange:
The figures in this image may be in need. Acknowledge their need. Offer something helpful you have to share.
What might they offer in return?