Archive | Lydia Allison RSS feed for this section

Beauty, Deformation and Monsters # 5 The Halloween Edition

31 Oct

Pumpkin

.

Lydia Allison our ‘Writer In Residence’ for the month of October.

..and a new Halloween Monster !

‘I often just write what I feel. I have a real interest in physicality/beauty/deformity as I think image impacts on everyone. Ā I’m particularly interested in how people see themselves and how that influences their appearance or physicality subconsciously/metaphorically in terms of their feeling or actively by self harm/eating disorders. And I’m interested in perceptions of beauty and body dysmorphia’.

____________________

Happy Halloween Everyone!

And to celebrate we’re not only offering you Lydia’s final poem focusing on deformation, specially written to pull the project together but also aĀ newĀ monster formed out of all the Ā poem illustrations by the artists involved in this project who have been inspired by Lydia’s poems. Ā You probably Ā haven’t seen anything like it before!Ā This has been created byĀ Sara MenaĀ (you can see the image she contributed last weekĀ here).

The talented artists collaborating in Lydia’s project alongside Sara have beenĀ Gary CaldwellĀ (whose art work went out in our first postĀ here) andĀ Amanda SantosĀ (whose art work went out a fortnight agoĀ here) andĀ Diana ProbstĀ (whose art work you can seeĀ here).

We hope you’ve enjoyed the juxtaposition of words and images over the weeks, and a big thank you to Lydia for providing the artists with such a rich source of imagery and themes. We’ve enjoyed having you and your poetry with us. I really hope the connection will continue. And another BIG thank you to Gary, Amanda, Diana and Sara for their terrific artwork, which you can see collectively transformed below.

______

.

Final monster_artipeeps_lydiaallison

Our Collaborative Poem Monster

Claws

by Lydia Allison

.

Claws 2

Please click on the poem image to enlarge if you need toĀ 

.

Writer’s Biography

‘I’ve been writing for a couple of years and am currently in my final year of my BA in Creative Writing. Two years ago I thought it would be a miracle for me to string lines into poetry, but quickly fell in love with it and proved myself wrong. My real passion lies between the border of poetry and prose.’

lydiaallison.wordpress.com

https://twitter.com/LydiaAllison13

.Ā .

As always, your responses to either Lydia’s poetry or the art that has been created would be very much welcomed!!

.

Happy Halloween from the other monster too!

grand_monster_complete sara

A Prelude To Halloween…..’Angels’ by Jessica Cooke

28 Oct

Angel

.

Angels

by Jessica Cooke

.
She had never bothered me before, not really.

.
She used to have a grey look about her, not the grey of a washed out dishcloth, but aĀ shimmering steel grey that trickled slowly like a sewage river, beneath those greatĀ almost diamond shaped cracks, the ones where her skin stretched clear over.

.
It’s because of her blood. Not red like ours, but polluted, like the snow you find in aĀ gutter.

.
You can probably tell I don’t like her. I’ve never liked her. She doesn’t scare me though;Ā to be scared of her would be like being scared of your own face in the mirror, or the skyĀ outside your window. She’s always been there.

.
For some reason, I never spoke about her, I don’t know why. I wondered why she wasĀ there, but only in the same lazy, childish way I wondered why the sky was blue and whyĀ the trees grew up instead of down, and why I had cancer.

.
But, like the trees and the sky and my cancer, somebody, somewhere eventually cameĀ up with an answer, so I figured that, eventually, someone would explain her to me.

.
His name was Michael. He was in my leukaemia ward, and he was eleven. My mum said IĀ looked up to him because he was older than me but I liked him because of his funnyĀ accent. I found him different to all the other children on the ward, I giggled when heĀ spoke.

.
ā€œSure, I have one,ā€ he told me, in a very matter of fact manner, ā€œbut mine don’t look likeĀ you say yours does.ā€

.
ā€œIs yours a man?ā€ I asked, with the typical boys-play-with-boys and girls-with-girlsĀ social science of a ten year old.

.
ā€œNah,ā€ he answered, ā€œMine’s a woman like yours is. But she don’t look the same, mine’sĀ got bright white hair like smoke! Or snow! Or Nurse Chandler’s hair!ā€

.
We both giggled.

.
ā€œAnd sometimes she gazes at me with big groggy eyes, like a bull frog, and sometimesĀ she does this with her mouth.ā€ He opened and closed his mouth slothfully like a freshĀ water fish, ā€œbut no other people can see them – you only have them if you’re sick, likeĀ me and you,ā€ he pinched my hip, and I wriggled back. ā€œDon’t worry, Bluebelle,ā€ he
grinned a toothy smile, ā€œthey’re here to protect us. Like angels.ā€

.
I looked at my lady. I’ve never seen her face. All I saw was her stark grey body, with herĀ bright, thick veins, like lead stitching, awkwardly bulging among the thick tufts of darkĀ hair, which sprouted oddly in places across her head and back, like poisoned crops.

.
She didn’t look like any angel I’d ever seen.

.
ā€œEh,ā€ said Mike, suddenly, ā€œIf you want you can have Patrick to sleep with?ā€ He handedĀ me a life-beaten bear with a missing eye and buttons hanging down. He said his mumĀ said the bear was falling apart, but Mike thought he was special. I held him tightly allĀ night.

.
It was my Mum who told me Mike was Irish.

.
It’s remarkable the way your mind works, when you’re that small, I was sure I lovedĀ that strange boy with the jingle bell voice, but now I realise I know nothing about love,Ā and probably never will, but that’s okay, I know what love is, and you can’t missĀ something that’s never been there, just like you can’t be afraid of something that alwaysĀ has been.

.
“Mum, would I become Irish,” I asked, one night cuddled to my mother’s warm body,Ā winding her golden hair around my finger, like a ring, “you know, when me and Mike getĀ married?”

.
“If you want,” she’d said, but her voice sounded funny to me, as though it was crackingĀ at the edges. I told her I’d put it back together, but she simply kissed my head and toldĀ me to go get ready for bed.

.
When I came back there were red blotches on her neck and face and her eyes had tinyĀ ruby lines around the pupil, like a crimson- white kaleidoscope.

.
I asked if the Lady had done it to her.

.
“What do you mean?” She looked bemused, and wiped away the tears that I now knowĀ she’d shed for me.

.
“Well,” I began, “My lady never does anything to me; she just looks straight out of theĀ window. I’ve not seen her face but, I don’t like her. Do you like your lady, Mum?”

.
My Mother had said she didn’t have a lady, and after that I had to go talk to a man in aĀ suit, he was a nice and he was a doctor, my mother had assured me, and I was to tell himĀ all about my lady.

.
“He doesn’t look like a doctor,” I’d protested, doctors wore white coats; I knew that, I’dĀ read it in my books.

.
“He’s a special kind of doctor,” she told me, smiling, but her eyes bore that strangeĀ falling look I’d glimpsed in the bedroom, “he’s going to help you get rid of that nastyĀ lady.”

.
And I was rid of her, at least for a while.

.
It was the summer after I’d gone into remission, just before my 14th birthday.Ā I noticed she seemed to be fading; the cracks across her skin began to spread, like anĀ earth-quake moving in slow motion, until she stood, thin and wavering at the edges, asĀ though I was just looking at her reflection in water.

.
I started over to her, picking my way among the toys that lay littered across myĀ bedroom floor, a dozen tiny faces at my feet;

.
Step. Step. Step.

.
She seemed to waver, the outline of her body shaking fuzzily like the hectic dancing ofĀ white static on an empty TV channel.

.
Step. Step. Step.

.
As I drew closer to her, I noticed the drops. Tiny perfectly formed droplets of water, thatĀ fell with a sucking sound from behind her long veil of dark hair, and clung to theĀ windowsill in tiny frozen pearls.

.
I now know that this is what happens when they cry.

.
My angel, if that is what she was, was dying. I suddenly felt a surge of hot guilt courseĀ through me; I imagined the sight from the window pane, where she stared; her frailĀ frame disappearing in tiny glimmers, like the blinking of a transmitted light; a fadingĀ message sent from somewhere faraway.

.
Slowly, I reached out to touch her, my own pale fingers shaking, as if to mirror her.

.
Slowly, slowly, I extended my arm, my forefinger stretching toward her like a treeĀ branch, gently moving closer, closer…

.
ā€œBelle.ā€

.
I jumped and span around, my arm still stretched out in front of me as though I wasĀ pointing.

.
My mother stood in the doorway.

.
ā€œWhat are you doing?ā€ she asked, puzzled.

.
ā€œNothing,ā€ I said quickly. I glanced back at my Lady.

.
She was fading still. The shape of her bones were illuminated in the morning sun; ghostĀ bones; the kind you could see right through.

.
I looked back at my mother.

.
When I think back now I remember her stillness, how the white doorway framed theĀ moment like a picture, my mother; eyes shining with tears, clutching her mobile phoneĀ in her hand.

.
A split second, half a heartbeat; ignorance, peace.

.
A moment later, she told me Michael had died.

.
It’s strange that the things you expect can still come as a shock, my mum had warned meĀ that it would happen soon. Every day as I sat beside his bed, his face seemed to growĀ paler and his bright smile had become a heavy grin that stretched out across his tinyĀ bones. His happiness was always greater than he was.

.
I remember the last day I’d spent with Michael; I’d held his hand and Patrick’s as I sat,Ā nestled in his covers, his warm slow breath caressing the skin on my cheek, listening asĀ he talked once more about his lady.

.
ā€œEveryone says I’m getting sicker,ā€ he told me, I leant forward to hear him; his wordsĀ were thin and whispery, like falling paper. ā€œBut I don’t know. I feel it, my belly hurts andĀ I can’t move as much, I need their help with pretty much everything. But the angel, Belle,Ā I wish you could see her, she looks so beautiful. Do you remember the white statue?ā€

.
The year before, Michael and I had been to Lourdes with our parents, and whilst Mike’sĀ Mum and Dad had gone off to explore, Mike had insisted on staying with me, so him, myĀ mum and me had sat eating our sandwiches on a pure white concrete block; at theĀ centre of which was a small sized statue of a bright white lady.Ā She had the mostĀ beautiful face, carved of vanilla stone.

.
Mum had told us the statue was of a lady who said that an angel had appeared to herĀ and drove a spear right through her. Mum said the spear didn’t kill her but the lady wasĀ happy and filled with the power of God. I asked Mum why someone would be so happyĀ to have a spear driven right through them, and why God was so special?

.
Mum stared at me, her eyes widening in shock.

.
ā€œTo be visited by God would be a privilege Belle! Why the Lord is the utmost ā€¦ā€ herĀ voice was becoming shrill, like the noise a microphone makes when you try to tune it in.Ā I imagined my Mum on a podium preaching God to people passing by, getting shrillerĀ and shriller as they marched on with their blasphemy,not knowing her daughter wasĀ among the uncaring.

.
ā€œYears ago,ā€ she started, ā€œPeople would even sacrifice themselves, or even others to GodĀ to prove their love for him. It was the angels that did his bidding, of-course. It was anĀ angel who visited Abraham and asked him to offer up his only son to the lord.ā€

.
ā€œAs a sacrifice?ā€ I asked.

.
Mike looked down and began to fidget awkwardly with the hem of his t-shirt; a ghost ofĀ smile playing on his lips; he knew what my Mum was like.

.
ā€œYes,ā€ she continued proudly, ā€œwith a blessed knife.ā€

.
God sounded like a great spoiled child to me, and I definitely did not like the sound ofĀ his angels.

.
I normally try to keep my Mum happy, nod along when she talks about ā€œThe Lordā€, goĀ along with her to church, in that moment, curiosity niggled at me like a hot itch, and IĀ just had to know.

.
ā€œWould you sacrifice me to God if he asked you to?ā€

.
Mike looked up from his fidgeting and began to eye us both warily, as though he wasĀ watching someone tread through a mine-field.

.
ā€œWhat do you mean?ā€

.
ā€œIf God came down from heaven and asked you to offer up me, would you do it?ā€

.
Her eyes bore into mine, she opened her mouth but closed it soon after, as if she hadĀ been about to speak but thought better of it.

.
ā€œI love you,ā€ she said instead.

.
ā€œSo you wouldn’t?ā€ I persisted.

.
ā€œOh!ā€ Mike said suddenly. With his eyes still fixated on Mum and me, he had reachedĀ behind him to grab his Ribena carton, missed, and knocked it flat over.

.
We jumped up quickly as a sticky red river began to form where we’d been sitting.

.
Mum gasped, with shock or relief I’m not sure. But she whipped out a tissue from herĀ bag and began to clean frantically the feet of the statue, her eyes fixated on the vividĀ pool of red, she would not have it taint the ivory gown.

.
The cool blue light of the hospital room placed a gentle glow upon Mike’s face. I told himĀ I did remember the statue.

.
ā€œShe looks just like her, just like her,ā€ he told me, suddenly he gripped my hand and for aĀ moment I was frightened; his fingers clung white-tight to the flesh of my wrist, ā€œshe’sĀ beautiful,ā€ he said again. He was staring at me now, his eyes dark jewels in the cobaltĀ shadows.

.
Under the eyes of his angel, the dying boy gave me my first ever kiss.

.
Soon after this, I saw Mike’s lady for myself. It was at the funeral, we were all gatheredĀ around the grey headstone, under which my best friend lay. I looked at the tiny cracksĀ that had seemed to form already across the fresh stone, I wondered if I could plantĀ flowers between the cracks, and maybe they’d bloom so Mike would still be beautiful.Ā 

.

That’s when I saw her. At first I thought she was part of the crowd, someone dressedĀ unusually in bright white linen, but then I noticed she began to walk alone, to glideĀ across graves far from our crowd.

.
Her long white gown trailed softly as she moved as a boat sails across water.Ā Occasionally she stopped and leant down slightly at a grave here or there, craning herĀ head as if she recognized it as something she once knew.

.

Then soundlessly she would stoop to pick just one single flower from the grave thatĀ stopped her, before continuing to slide along.

I felt happy for a second when I saw her looking down upon his new bed, glad that heĀ wouldn’t be alone, cramped in that tiny coffin, packed into the silence – he’d have hisĀ pretty lady with him; his angel to watch over him.

.
Then I saw her face. The way she was looking at his headstone and my blood ran cold. ItĀ was that smile.

.
It was like an open wound, as though the force of her glee had ripped a grinning hole inĀ her face. I knew that smile, I’d seen it before, it was the one that the villain wore in a filmĀ after he escaped justice yet again, it was like the one Tom Chester had when he pushedĀ me down in the playground and looked at my bald head, and called me freak, back whenĀ I used to go to school; it was victory.

.
I still think of Mike all the time, especially now since I’m sick again. I don’t believe in lifeĀ after death but I like to pretend I do sometimes to keep my mum happy. That’s why I goĀ with her to church, that’s why I talk to her about God, as if he’s real.

.
But there’s no such thing as a man with a long white beard, who watches over us fromĀ the land of fluffy clouds. That would be too nice, too convenient for us all.

.
There is simply life and death.

.
And the angels that watch over us. Waiting.

.

.

Writer’s Biography:

My full name is Jessica Cooke. Am 22, from Liverpool. I do Creative writing at Sheffield Hallam and currently live in Sheffield for Uni.Ā I work in Local authority bar and apart from writing, socialising, and the odd hike and rock climb I’m a little bit boring! Haha.Ā I do the occasional bit of performance poetry, enjoy music and reading.

http://madramblingsss.wordpress.com/

https://twitter.com/JessicaCooke5

Beauty, Deformation and Monsters # 4

24 Oct

Deformity

Ā Lydia Allison our ‘Writer In Residence’ for the month of October.

..and the ever-changing Halloween Monster !

‘I often just write what I feel. I have a real interest in physicality/beauty/deformity as I think image impacts on everyone. Ā I’m particularly interested in how people see themselves and how that influences their appearance or physicality subconsciously/metaphorically in terms of their feeling or actively by self harm/eating disorders. And I’m interested in perceptions of beauty and body dysmorphia’.

____________________

Here’s the fourth of five poems on deformation by Lydia AllisonĀ illustrated this week by artist Sara Mena. Ā You’ll also find the third instalment of our ever-morphing, dastardly collaborative monster.Ā This drawing is being collectively produced and passed from artist-to artist week-by-week- all contributing to one image.

The artists collaborating in Lydia’s project alongside Sara have been Gary Caldwell (whose art work went out in our first post here) andĀ Amanda Santos (whose art work went out a fornight ago here) and Diana ProbstĀ (whose art work you can see here)Ā 

So….each week you’ve been presented with a new poem and two new images/artworks (one illustration & one growing monster) today is the final poem and monster completion before the grande reveal next week of a new poem by Lydia especially written for the culmination of this project and the final collaborative version of the monster in situ for Halloween on the 31st.

______

claws_saramena

Claws by Sara Mena

Please do click on the image to enlarge-it’s worth it

scars

by Lydia AllisonĀ 

.
like lapped scum from waves
fish scales the shape of nails biting flesh
soft grey of freed blood
fractured vein
lightless shadow under skin

.
weight of sleep and sheets
a mercury circle of brine slides from one eye
to the other eye

.
swollen face of a stranger
empty body full of colour

.
raised lines like child’s writing
fake letters link
breaths wait to stagger pain

.
the legs
the chest
body set
hollow nest

.
still and patient
not to find anything

.

The Monster:

... with legs…or are they….here are Sara’s additions:

.

grand_monster_complete sara

.

Ā He’s amphibian….who’d of thought…

.

Writer’s Biography

‘I’ve been writing for a couple of years and am currently in my final year of my BA in Creative Writing. Two years ago I thought it would be a miracle for me to string lines into poetry, but quickly fell in love with it and proved myself wrong. My real passion lies between the border of poetry and prose.’

lydiaallison.wordpress.com

https://twitter.com/LydiaAllison13

.

Artist’s Biography:

Ā ā€œHI I’m Sara Mena, i’m a freelance illustrator and 2D artist and very positive with life and with the things I love. I was born in 1985 and although I have a BA in Graphic Design I was always drawn to the visual arts and illustration and decided to go that way.Ā I like to work in paper and digital, usually mixing those two. I’m passionate with expression and emotion in paintings and drawings and I like merging media to find new ways of expression and to convey responses.Ā At present time, I’m doing figurative work, science art and also art for videogames. Sometimes I work in some art exhibitions.Ā I’m glad to be able to work with such different areas, they make me use different techniques and make me think in particular ways, that helps me grow and expand my art.

http://saramena.com/

https://twitter.com/_saramena

You can find more of Sara’s art in a previous feature on ArtiPeeps, Interactions and Intersections’.

.

The monster is sticking with Sara until next week so she can put him into a context for the big reveal…Be very,very Ā afraid…or not…

Lydia’s final poem especially written for the culmination of our project will be out on ArtiPeeps next week for Halloween –Thursday 31st October. Ā 

.

As always, your responses to either Lydia’s poetry or the art that has been created would be very much welcomed!!

Beauty, Deformation and Monsters # 3

16 Oct

Deformity

Ā Lydia Allison our ‘Writer In Residence’ for the month of October.

..and the ever-changing Halloween Monster!

‘I often just write what I feel. I have a real interest in physicality/beauty/deformity as I think image impacts on everyone. Ā I’m particularly interested in how people see themselves and how that influences their appearance or physicality subconsciously/metaphorically in terms of their feeling or actively by self harm/eating disorders. And I’m interested in perceptions of beauty and body dysmorphia’.

____________________

Here’s the third of five poems on deformation by Lydia AllisonĀ illustrated this week by artist Diana ProbstĀ (See her biography below). You’ll also find the third instalment of our ever-morphing, dastardly collaborative monster.Ā This drawing is being collectively produced and passed from artist-to artist week-by-week- all contributing to one image.

The artists collaborating in Lydia’s project alongside Diana are Gary Caldwell (whose art work went out in our first post here) andĀ Amanda Santos (whose art work went out last weekĀ here) and Sara Mena (whose art work is still to come).

So….each week you’ll be presented with a new poem and two new images/artworks (one illustration & one growing monster). You’ll be introduced to each artist as we go along too.

______

Cauliflower Heart

Please do click on the image to enlarge

.

Cauliflower Heart

by Lydia Allison

.

You see them, don’t you?
These little scars just below
where my bra sits?
In the right light they shine like new
You noticed my fingers
blackened at the tips
nails hard
feeling gone

.
I know, I’m trying not to slouch, but
can’t you see the ropes?
Woven thick
and reaching
down?
All these tendons from tired knee
to toe are old rubber bands
I can’t reach any more
stretch…….. leap……fall
best foot worn

.
these stitches run like ladders pulling holes
but not everyone can see like you
they see: red wine purple teeth
cheshire cat grin
but not the split fruit skin,
and under it all
the hard tissue grows.

.

Writer’s Biography

‘I’ve been writing for a couple of years and am currently in my final year of my BA in Creative Writing. Two years ago I thought it would be a miracle for me to string lines into poetry, but quickly fell in love with it and proved myself wrong. My real passion lies between the border of poetry and prose.’

lydiaallison.wordpress.com

https://twitter.com/LydiaAllison13

.

Artist’s Biography:

Ā Diana is a young artist in Cambridge, who is continually surprised that people will pay her to do what she loves. Ā She likes beer and being paid on time. Ā She has illustrated two books and a lot of bits of paper. Ā She wants to paint portraits, takes commissions, and drinks tea like it is water.

http://dianaprobst.com/

https://twitter.com/DianaProbst

You can find more of Diana’s art in a previous feature on ArtiPeeps,Ā Ask An Artist.

.

The Monster:

with Diana’s additions

.

grand_monster

.

.

The monster was passed to Sara Mena today. She’s fiddling with his appendages as we speak….

.

Lydia’s next poem will be out on ArtiPeeps next week-Thursday 24thĀ October. Ā You can also check-in then and Ā see what stage our cheery monster is at too! Ā 

.

As always, your responses to either Lydia’s poetry or the art that has been created would be very much welcomed!!

Beauty, Deformation and Monsters # 2

10 Oct

Deformity

Ā Lydia Allison our ‘Writer In Residence’ for the month of October.

..and the ever-changing Halloween Monster!

‘I often just write what I feel. I have a real interest in physicality/beauty/deformity as I think image impacts on everyone. Ā I’m particularly interested in how people see themselves and how that influences their appearance or physicality subconsciously/metaphorically in terms of their feeling or actively by self harm/eating disorders. And I’m interested in perceptions of beauty and body dysmorphia’.

____________________

Here’s the second of five poems on deformation by Lydia AllisonĀ illustrated by emerging ArtistĀ Amanda SantosĀ (See her biography below), and the second instalment of our ever-morphing, dastardly collaborative monster.Ā This drawing is being Ā collaboratively produced and passed from artist-to artist week-by-week all contributing to one image.

The artists collaborating in Lydia’s project alongside Amanda are Gary Caldwell (whose work went out in our first post here) and Diana Probst and Sara Mena (whose work is to come). So….each week you’ll be presented with a new poem and two new images/artworks (one illustration & one growing monster) and you’ll also be introduced to each artist.

______

.

Blood Gold by Amanda Santos

Please do click on the image to enlarge

.

Blood Gold

by Lydia Allison

.

it drags the veins as it flushes and trudges
heavy and sludgy, it reminds you
of energy and time and waste

.
it weighs
and stretches the fibres
the skin
until she is numb
and unable to see
the leaves that shimmered
now gather around the rich tree root trunk of her heart
like cholesterol snagging in corners
and shutting valves like doors.

.
the key
a bright speck that navigates the brain
or abides in the green retina of the left eye
he noticed once

.
and hurts? can you not know?

.
it hurts
it makes her shine
and now it pools
a small dam low
in her chest

.
it pools
small sac by sac
so when she breathes
it’s cold and half dead
and tastes
like blood

.

Writer’s Biography

‘I’ve been writing for a couple of years and am currently in my final year of my BA in Creative Writing. Two years ago I thought it would be a miracle for me to string lines into poetry, but quickly fell in love with it and proved myself wrong. My real passion lies between the border of poetry and prose.’

lydiaallison.wordpress.com

https://twitter.com/LydiaAllison13

Artist’s Biography:

Ā “Hi, my name is Amanda Santos. I’m a junior in High School, and I only really got involved in art a year ago in my Art I class. Since then I have tried to learn everything that I possibly can about every type of art that I could find. I am still trying to find a style and a voice in the artistic world, but I’m on my way.”

https://twitter.com/AmandaS5454

You can find more of Amanda’s art in a previous collaboration on ArtiPeeps, Interactions and Intersections.

________________________

The Monster .

with Amanda’s additions

.

Amanda's monster (2)

.

The monster was passed to Diana Probst today. She’s shaping the monster as we speak….

.

Lydia’s next poem will be out on ArtiPeeps next week-Wednesday 16thĀ October. Ā You can also check-in then and Ā see what stage our cheery monster is at too! Ā 

.

As always, your responses to either Lydia’s poetry or the art that has been created would be very much welcomed!!

Beauty, Deformation and Monsters #1

1 Oct

Deformity

Introducing Lydia Allison our ‘Writer In Residence’ for the month of October.

..and The Monster!

I approached Lydia a while ago proposing that she could maybe take up a month long residency on ArtiPeeps and to my delight she said yes! It was Lydia who then came up with the idea of focusing on notions of deformity as she had written a number of poems about it. When I asked Lydia the question, ‘why deformity?’, this is what she said about her interest:

‘I often just write what I feel. I have a real interest in physicality/beauty/deformity as I think image impacts on everyone. Ā I’m particularly interested in how people see themselves and how that influences their appearance or physicality subconsciously/metaphorically in terms of their feeling or actively by self harm/eating disorders. And I’m interested in perceptions of beauty and body dysmorphia’.

And this is what Lydia said about herself too:

‘I’ve been writing for a couple of years and am currently in my final year of my BA in Creative Writing. Two years ago I thought it would be a miracle for me to string lines into poetry, but quickly fell in love with it and proved myself wrong. My real passion lies between the border of poetry and prose.’

It was very clear that Lydia couldĀ ‘string lines into poetry’ and she produced 4 poems focused around the body or parts of the body. We decided that it would be wonderful if these poems could be illustrated and, because Halloween is a coming, for the artists involved Ā to use the parts of the body fleshed out within her poems to inspire a Collaborative Halloween Monster too.

____

So what you’ll find for the next four weeks is one poem of Lydia’s illustrated by an artist each week and an ever- growing, ghastly Monster being created alongside it; Ā the nature of which, will gradually emerge bit by bit. Ā 

This drawing will be collaboratively produced and passed from artist-to artist week-by-week all contributing to one image. The artists collaborating in Lydia’s project are Gary Caldwell, Amanda Santos, Diana Probst and Sara Mena.Ā Each week you’ll be presented with a new poem and two new images/artworks (one illustration & one growing monster) and you’ll also be introduced to each artist.

Today’s images have been created by artist and illustrator Gary CaldwellĀ who is currently living and working in Aberdeen, Scotland. Indeed Gary is also responsible for our ArtiPeeps logo on the sidebar. His graphics are always striking.Ā 

.

Print

You can find more of Gary’s art viaĀ http://www.flowland.co.uk/Contact

.

Most People Start With The Skin

by Lydia Allison

.

like back-washing a canvas
it is much easier to go brighter
or darker.
Try to remain as plain and smooth
as possible – make yourself
not like yourself
– do you want to stick out?

.
If they can tell you’re flesh and fibres
that you have pores
you sweat
think
eat mayonnaise
you have lost.

.
Learn to laugh
right
and to smile
right
how to talk
eat
who to like
OK
what to say
OK

and once you are there
consider all of them
consider yourself
disguised.

.

lydiaallison.wordpress.com

https://twitter.com/LydiaAllison13

______

The Monster

The head

Print

The monster’s head was passed to Amanda Santos yesterday. She’s adding body parts as we speak….

Lydia’s next poem will be out on ArtiPeeps next week- Thursday 10th October. Ā You can also check-in and Ā see what stage our cheery monster is at too! Ā 

As always, your responses to either Lydia’s poetry or the art that has been created would be very much welcomed!!

%d bloggers like this: