Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Desire








I can't think of April without thinking about Eliot's "The Wasteland" which opens with those iconic lines: "April is the cruellest month ..." While I love the entire work, it's not the opening lines that strike me as much as the second and third do, when he talks about "mixing/memory and desire."

The connection between memory and desire is inextricable in my opinion. In short, we desire because we remember; we want to hold onto something, a feeling, a moment, a person etc. Salinger also references Eliot's lines on memory and desire in his haunting short story, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish."

When I saw the art of Katie Rodgers I instantly desired to own a piece of her work. Her colors are so wonderful and her images are whimsical. It was love at first sight. I then desired to learn how to sketch. But now as I write this, I'm just not sure it's meant to be. I'm perfectly happy with just buying the drawings of others. What I love so much about Katie's drawings is that her pieces come from the strongholds of memory. I so clearly remember the Kate Spade fashion show portrayed above, as well as the Chloe ad featuring the girls in dresses (also above). She has mixed memory with desire, captured life beautifully, and in the end ... we have art.

I'm definitely going to be picking up one of Katie's prints : )

2 comments:

  1. Absolutely stunning sketches and well said :)

    La Kat

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  2. Hello Beth,

    Love these and yes, don't we all need a little whimsy in our lives?

    Great color...Going to check out her site.

    Janet xox
    The Empty Nest

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