From Us

Honored to have been included in this poster show about poetry and typography. Hosted by Gamut Gallery, this show explores poetry by Kareem Rahma and Molly-Margaret Johnson and 30 local and national designers. Designers had the option to pick through 30 different poems that were unauthored and untitled.

The poem I chose is as follows:

I wasted the day
Being mad at myself
For being mad at you
For being mad at me
For wasting the day
Being mad at myself

This endless cycle felt familiar to me. The anxiousness of your self-inflicted overthinking spiraling into overthinking your overthinking, and being mad at yourself for overthinking, for being mad, for wasting the day being mad and overthinking. I wanted to express the rawness of these moments and this process. It takes a great persistence to keep allowing your mind to go there.

In thinking about the technique to apply and relate to the words and the feeling, I wanted something handmade. We were required to create an edition of at least 10—which I thought was a good number to able to create all 10 by hand, as original works. This relates back to the process of these thoughts, the process of the repetitive creation of art. The pain you endure during the process, the cycle you get stuck in.

These 18-color works are all handmade 18x24 poems in colored pencil.

The show opening was March 5 at Gamut Gallery. All works are for sale as individual prints, as well as one framed piece. You can purchase in-person in Minneapolis, or order online. The work will be up until April 11.