28 February 2013

Died For Our Sins

DiedForOurSins

DIED FOR OUR SINS
Japanese-method woodblock (moku hanga)
Image size: 10.25" x 17" (26 x 43 cm)
Paper size: 12.5" x 19" (63.5 x 98 cm)
Paper: Nishinouchi
Made with 3 shina plywood blocks, 5 color layers
Edition: 12
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I have no more words about this print. If you want to know some of the background, you can see previous posts about the murder of my friend Joe or about the things I discovered in researching other murders of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people.

I'll leave you with a poem for Matthew Shepard written by Karen Bashkirew. I became familiar with this poem through an album by Suzzy and Maggie Roche called Zero Church.


Sounds

They say the sounds we make
will travel through space
forever--
through our spinning solar system,
through the wheeling disc of our galaxy,
through what we imagine our universe to be,
we can't begin to imagine.

They say we cannot call a sound back,
cannot erase a sound,
can't catch it up and change it,
no matter how many hymns and prayers
we send chasing after it.
A sound goes on and on and on.

Can you imagine the sounds he made,
how they must have echoed in the clear
Wyoming air

Can you imagine the sounds they made,
pistol whipping, shattering his skull

Can you imagine the sounds he made
as he hung, tied to a fence, broken and bleeding,
through the bitter night, and the whole next day

Can you imagine the sounds she made
when she heard what they did to her child

These sounds
are streaking through space forever.
These sounds
are shattering stars.
These sounds
will shatter
brightness forever
we can't begin to imagine.

A sound goes on and on and on...

by Karen Bashkirew

8 comments:

betsy best-spadaro said...

So powerful, on so many levels. A very striking piece Annie.

dewatobay said...

tragic, painful, soul reaching sounds

Unknown said...

Exquisite, Annie! The figures feel like statuary come alive; the carved names and info feel etched not only into "stone" behind, but on our collective and broken hearts. I love the "negative space" of the body housing the names/info. For me this means that given the "right" particulars, this body could be that of any of those souls, of anyone, and each of them is the Christ.

Holly Friesen said...

A powerful and courageous testimonial to a painful subject. Both, image and poem resonate and deepen with each other.

Sharri said...

Moving, loving, emotional, so perfect. Joe is pleased, I'm sure of it.

Unknown said...

Very powerful and very beautiful. This is a very moving tribute to all the people named on the list including your friend Joe. The grief is profound as is the tenderness. Lovely work.

Melody Knight Leary said...

Such a beautiful piece Annie. Your print along with the poem are unbelievably powerful.

Katka said...

I think this is one of the most powerful works you've done Annie. It truly is a monument.