The Poet
mixed media assemblage
broken porcelain doll's head, metal flowers, in velvet box made for goblets.
by Dale Copeland, 2008
| My favourite doll head broke. I'd had it inside a glass dome on top of a plinth made from an old concrete pipe. Sitting outside for years. (See a collage I made from the image by clicking here) But a bad storm last weekend blew it over and broke it. I was sad, but the two pieces were beautiful and they fitted so well into this purple velvet goblet box. The result felt good, but I was reluctant to name it, as it seemed to be trying to say so much about the inner essence of the person in spite of the ruined face. So was it about 'Soul', or 'Inner Beauty'? Even 'Reconstructive Surgery' perhaps? Because of the broken shape I thought of 'The Phantom of the Opera' and was close to calling it just 'Opera' for the singing beauty inside all of us. But 'Opera' would immediately bring The Phantom to mind just because of the shape and I didn't want to restrict it. So, wanting to express the pain of the composer or the writer, the clarified thoughts, the highest potential of humans to think, to write ... I settled on 'The Poet'. I'm pleased. |
Dale's studio can be found on Surf Highway, Taranaki, New Zealand
More of her work can be seen on the Virtual TART site at www.tart.co.nz
email Dale at dale@tart.co.nz