ISLE
ISLE
200 x 200 x 120 cm
Aluminium dibond with acrylic polymer
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DETAILS
DETAILS
The ‘Isle’ is a tribute to the island of San Michele in Veneto. Situated between the main islands of Venice and Murano, the entirety of San Michele is a cemetery, and so it is known as the ‘island of the dead’. As Venice is too dense to accommodate graveyards, when a loved one is lost, they are ferried over the lagoon to their resting place.
The idea for this sculpture began from Arch Hades’ line of poetry ‘poems are like gravestones, marking where love lies’ (etched in Hades’ handwriting on the black, polished ‘lagoon’ plane) to indicate the artists’ intention of burying loved ones in poetry and books, this way also making visitations easier with the simple re-reading or recitation of a poem.
The ‘graves’ of the island themselves are represented by many books forming the sculpture’s distinctive shape. The lower part of the sculpture is a mirror reflection of the top part, paying tribute to the islands’ living inhabitants, the cypress trees. They are specifically planted in cemeteries as the roots of the cypress travel strictly vertically down, never disturbing the graves.
The ferryman, clocked in white, is seen to be delivering a new book to the Isle, to put with the rest of the artists’ treasures moments. Around the isle, lines of gold poetry float, engraved in the artist’s handwriting, immortalising the memory of loved ones.
Read Full Text
Read Full Text
Full text (front) reads:
Poems are like gravestones, marking where love lies
In my memory, right where I left you
You will remain just as you were
Perfect and shining, like the day that you left me
This way you are with me and will never blur
first published as ‘Timeless’ in ‘Paper Romance’ (volume 3, 2021)
Full text (back) reads:
Your touch, like dew upon the tender morning green
Elation’s springtide swells in every vein, serene
You are that unexpected joy that washes me anew
Amid banality, there’s you, extraordinary you
Your heart, it does not vary, a soothing halcyon sea
And I, a sinking stone, in your waters, falling free
Pure ecstasy of willed surrender, transcending through
I am lost and found in you, extraordinary you
You are that revelation, I am convinced you are sublime
You remind me life is beautiful and that I still have time
Yet, you’re more than perfect, because you’re real and true
Exactly as you are, you’re it, extraordinary you
That velvet look you give me, it brings me to my knees
I worship you, a saint, who’d never count my sins
With every answered prayer, my faith in us, accrues
Each breath exalting you, extraordinary you
You widen each perspective, you deepen every word
Hold my trusting hands, you only want my want
I do not keep emotion, or my thoughts from you
You cherish each one safely, extraordinary you
All is different now, in ways I’ve only dreamed
Won’t be another like you, never, it would seem
Twin hearts, twin flames ignite, nothing I would undo
You’re every possibility, extraordinary you
Desire for you is all I feel, thoughts of you are all I have
Yours, the only face I see, yours, the only heart I crave
The truth is always simple and this one’s overdue
The simple truth is that I love you, extraordinary you
first published as ‘Extraordinary you’ in ‘Paper Romance’ (volume 3, 2021)
