site preparation

grabbing this and that,
inviting my muse—staging
possibility

—dotty seiter

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Notes about poem and art:
• “site preparation” contains elements of classic haiku with its syllable pattern of 5-7-5, its present tense and immediacy, and its use of kireji, i.e. a cutting word or pause, to pivot from a concrete action to a deeper realization, connecting the two. It’s been contemporized by inclusion of a title and a turning of the lens to look inward rather than outward to nature; in classic haiku a kigo, or season word, is used whereas in this haiku the kigo isn’t a season of the earth but a season of preparation related to the climate of an artist.
• As part of the site preparation for Before, I first penned onto my sketchbook page a journal entry that captured my feelings of the moment. I then went on to add some neurographic linework that, because it didn’t please my eye, took me into layers and layers of scribble, color, and veiling. In the end, I stopped when I felt a happy balance of tangle and depth that captured my mood. I can imagine this “pattern” printed on fabric that I might use somewhere in a quilt project or to sew a sleeveless sheath dress.