Work is underway on my collection of diagram poems and small “devotional object” sculptures for a small solo exhibition entitled This Wonderful Pile of Dirt which will be on display in The Allotment Gallery at Greenbelt Festival, Saturday 27th August.
One of the things that I enjoy most about diagram poems is the way that the snippets of text and graphic elements combine to discuss things for which words really aren’t adequate. I’m intrigued by the words of Richard Rohr when he suggests that
“Before 500 BCE, religion and poetry were largely the same thing. People did not presume to be able to define the Mystery. They looked for words that could describe the mystery. Poetry doesn’t claim to be a perfect description as dogma foolishly does.”
Full text here
Similarly to the St Alphege inspired diagram poems with which I started this blog, the works that I am making for This Wonderful Pile of Dirt address ideas of faith, hope, love, doubt and superstition in the face of daily life. For these works, words are chosen for their potential to get under the material of experience and penetrate to the mystery beyond.
