Artists of Life and Words

Poverello, the poor little man, is a nickname given to St.Francis for his integrity and repudiation of anything influencing desire, pride, and ambition. In reading, Little Flowers of Saint Francis and having been to the Church of Saint Francis in Fiesole and Laverna, stories and images of his caritas, a love of charity to all things and humans alike, inspired me to develop a caring and careful handling of my materials. Paper-making became a contemplative and meditative process. Each hand-made sheet became unique to a specific moment in a process of self-evaluation.

Below is the portrait of Dante Alighieri painted by Sandro Botticelli during the quattrocento (1400's). We all remember from Peter Porcal that 'Dante's face is not his face!' Ever since I heard this I became intrigued by portraiture's potential to uglify or beautify the subject. You know what they say 'don't judge a book by its cover' and Dante, more than his faulty features reveal, was a universal poet of the good, bad and ugly in life. From the depths of Inferno, to Purgatorio and Paradiso in his masterpiece Divina Commedia, Dante battles the spiritual realms to seek justice and the eternal source of life, unconditional love. In reading excerpts of La Vita Nuova, Dante in Love, and La Commedia Dante's poetry spoke to me on a spirtual level and his words of love motivated me to shift to a more expressive approach in my drawing and painting. Being completely immersed in the letters of Doris, I sensed the need to make large physical impressions from the poetry and words I read from Dante. Behold, the larger-than-life size book was born. It offered me such relief and freedom of expression with the materials from the small intricate book I was working on earlier this term.