Introduction

These haiga began with a series of instant photographs of a quiet New England pond, taken as birds flew in and out of visual range, and clouds blew over to reflect on the water. I altered the photographs with hand-made marks and color to change the idyllic scene into something ambiguous, open to interpretation, and with a hint of other energies. I loosely arranged the images using their visual relationships: light/dark; trees/water.

Raffael responded to each image with a haiku that becomes part of the image, adding his own interpretation and another level of complexity. He arranged them in a different order, using sound as well as image, and with an historical perspective that moved from myth to guarded hope.

Interestingly, when I showed the finished images to a few artist friends, they spontaneously began playing with the order themselves, arranging the images according to the tone set by both the words and the image. They saw a tranquil beginning, moving into disturbances, and – as with Raffael’s arrangement – ending on a note of hope.

Return to The Turning Point Exhibition Main Page.