Taking Control | 25.3

2002

Digital only; out of stock in print.

The stories and poems in this issue largely focus on the theme of control. We seem to be tying to gain control, trying to avoid taking control and full responsibility for our lives or struggling to accept that there are things beyond our control….Also in this issue, we are proud to feature the winners of our 2001 Fiction & Poetry Contest. We received more than 175 submissions from authors across North America; there were many great pieces, and we certainly had some difficult choices to make. Congratulations to our 2001 winners and thanks to everyone who entered.

Artist’s Statement

It intrigues me to reflect upon past experience: memory fades and distorts events with time. What happened and what did not? Yet there is a real dividing line between historical fact and imagining something that never occurred.

Maria is one of a series of paintings that arise seemingly unbidden from my subconscious. I begin by affixing old sewing pattern tissues randomly to the canvas surface. There seems to be a right time to stop; close observation follows. The main subject begins to emerge, calling for enhancement. Then some line drawing and acrylic paint bring the woman into her painted reality.

Perhaps the viewer will see an image, that the artist does not. Both bring a unique past to the looking.