I N V E R T E D
The Fissured Tongue Series
"The Only..." by Lisa Berley, collage, acrylic paint
on board, 12 x 16 inches, 2023
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Welcome to Fissure Tongue Volume V! In this issue we have a number of multidisciplinary artists sharing powerful prose with us—artists, photographers, filmmakers, musicians both in the studio and on paper. No matter the medium, they bring us great gifts. These pieces exist as scattered dots twinkling across a continuum that extends through cardinal and dimensional directions; babies scream on Santa’s lap in the North Pole, a hot mess drives through the Mojave desert, a temple makes its home wherever you want it to, and somewhere in the unsettled past, wild curls bounce onto the gleaming floor of a drafty salon. Read the rest of the introductory letter from the managing editor and scroll down to discover all of the contributors published in this issue. Fissured Tongue Volume V is curated and edited by Yesica Mirambeaux, Associate Editor & Managing Editor of the Fissured Tongue series with editorial assistance from EA Midnight, Editorial Assistant Allissa Hertz, Associate Editor |
In this volume
Peruse below or check out a PDF version:
Peruse below or check out a PDF version:
"Eye of the Spoon" by María DeGuzmán, digital photograph, 2018
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From the Eye of Hart Crane
by María DeGuzmán María DeGuzmán offers that "This visual poetry piece composed of photographs and text functions as an informal ode to the work of US 'Modernist Romantic' poet Hart Crane, particularly to the collection White Buildings which contains “Voyages,” a mystical and queer lyric poem sequence. “From the Eye of Hart Crane” is steeped in ecological concerns and an awareness of intensified ephemerality and extinction. The photographic images accompanying the text portions were obtained by agitating water with a spoon in a small bowl and photographing the water while stirring it..." |
"Portrait" by William H. Johnson; oil on plywood; 31 1⁄2 x 25 3⁄4 inches; 1944-1945; open source from the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery.
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Break
by Piper Martin Of this piece, Piper Martin tells us "When you ask a kid what their favorite holiday is or what they want to be when they grow up, their answer will be instantaneous. Children have the freedom of seeing life for all the good it has to offer. Their favorite holiday is Valentine's Day because they like giving candy to their friends, and they want to be a vet because they like animals. For them, it truly is that simple..." |
"Uprising of the Mujeres: Study for Figure One" by Judith F. Baca; pastel on paper, 21 × 24 1⁄8 inches; 1977; open source from the Smithsonian American Art Museum
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On Ongoingness
by Alison C. Powell "To the East You were twenty-three and did not know what to do. You had an idea for yourself, so you followed it. A place and a time. This is you all over. You maintain now that the idea was to go to a big place to learn what to do. You sold your hours for pennies, the trade: you would appear at the coldly precise time and disappear eight oiled hours later, troubling no one in between..." from On Ongoingness |
"Georgia O’Keeffe" by Alfred Stieglitz; platinum print; 1919/20; open source from the Art Institute of Chicago
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keep
by Courtney Elizabeth Young " The work days continue, long, but not as long as the waits in waiting rooms where I wait with you. Today, we wait for the woman my doctors call The Wig Lady, who specializes in wigs for women who have the type of breast cancer I have, who have the same limited treatment options I have, who have a baldness I will have." |
"Metamorphosis II" by Peggy Stieler Wahrmund; cotton; 57 7⁄8 x 39 1⁄4 inches; 1990-91; open source from the Smithsonian American Art Museum
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Two Poems
by Dana Curtis Temple of Stars Causation “Flowers and birds collaborate to create new constellations for this newly molded world, radiant and empty. Welcome, I whisper in my most sinuous voice. I imagine you..." from Temple of Stars |
"Femmes au bain" by Suzanne Valadon; soft-ground etching; 1893; open source from the National Gallery of Art
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The Invention
by Anna Marie Ray "Give her a whirl; make the siren sing. The prompt, echoing in my head as she draws like Betty, so familiar with the female form Yet with some reluctance a hesitance to give in to the urges that dare to Overwhelm." from The Invention |
"Niagara Falls, New York. Elaine Colgan's bureau in Mrs. Hannegan's boardinghouse. In the mirror she can be seen reading a letter from home to her roommate, Alice. Girls live two and three in a room; pay eight dollars a week board. Receiving and writing letters is their favorite pastime" by Marjory Collins; photograph; 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches; May 1943; open source from the Library of Congress
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Tentative Titles for Poems About Former Roommates
by Kate Polak Poet Kate Polak shares that "This poem is based on entirely true stories, including those in which I am the villain. This piece I initially envisioned as a series of interlinked roommate poems, but as I compiled partial drafts, I slowly realized that the titles themselves were more than sufficient for the narrative arc I was seeking. Some of the poems came together, some of them haven't (yet?), but the titles all told the story I wanted. I finally decided that while the concept was great, I wasn't actually producing great poetry about it, but I *was* producing great titles." |
"The Paper Aeroplane" by Christy Sheffield Sanford; materials includes Pages, Photoshop Elements, image sourced from "Paper aeroplane diagram" by Ushakaron on Commons.wikimedia; 8 x 10 inches; 2021
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The Paper Aeroplane
by Christy Sheffield Sanford Christy Sheffield Sanford shares that "The paper aeroplane page focused on the artist model and included my mother, who posed — not in a kimono but often in costume -- for my father. I had read about a poet in France who sent his poetry flying out his window in hopes people in the street would read it. That charming act played a role in the idea of writing on a paper aeroplane." |
