It’s a galvanizing time in the arts at UAB! Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts (AEIVA) currently hosts an exhibit from MoMA in New York City. Featuring over 30 artists, “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration” contains pieces created by those currently living in prisons, those who formerly lived under punitive governments, and those passionate about the issue of mass incarceration.
The artists used their perspectives of the carceral state to portray mass incarceration within marginalized communities, thus showing its influence— as well as the influence of the prison industrial complex itself— on lives of those impacted by the injustice.
Art with such rich meaning and visualization is often inspiring
for other artists in various facets. Ekphrastic poetry is the result of this connection as it is formed through an individual engaging with a painting, drawing, sculpture, or other form of visual art to write poetry that then amplifies and expands the meaning of the original work.
With no established form, ekphrastic poetry can take shape in whatever way the poet wants— vivid description, provoked response, deep reflection, or even shocking discovery! There’s nothing to limit the poem aside from the author’s own imagination riffing off of the painting.
Below I’ve shared an ekphrastic poem based off of James “Yaya” Hough’s piece “Untitled” from the exhibit at AEIVA. I invite you to explore the exhibit yourself and write poems for the pieces that speak to you. If you feel like sharing, email your poem(s) to auraartsreview@gmail.com to be considered for publication on the website!
