melanie garcia x jason selman II

acrylic paint, gel medium & gelli plate transfers, paper, lettraset, oil stick on canvas

each 12” x 16”

2023

Identity, ANCESTRY, HISTORY and memory.

Interpreting four poems by Jason Selman.

Poet Jason Selman (Kalmunity Collective) and I reprised our 2019 collaborative workshop of interconnected seven week artist-in-residence workshops at Laval Senior Academy. Jason worked with several groups of English Language Arts students crafting micro poetry, centering around the main theme of identity encompassing family, interpersonal dynamics, emotions, and aspirations.

Once the poems had been completed, my work with several groups of Arts Concentration students began. Each art student selected several anonymous micro poems to visually interpret by creating mixed media collages, examining themes, symbolism, personal narrative and the use of text in visual art.

Simultaneously, Jason and I created works using the same guidelines that the students were following. I chose to depict the poems as two pairs of diptychs.

Diptych I pulls words from the first two poems and is accompanied by imagery from an old family album I had recently discovered.

Diptych II pulls words from the following two poems and is accompanied by imagery of Jason’s family that he had recently been researching.