What do you first notice? What lingers with you after you look away? Is there more to the story, things beneath the surface that you're curious about? What questions would you ask the art or the artist if you could?
All these ideas (and more) were on my mind as I engaged with the work of Roberto Benavidez, who describes himself as "sculptor specializing in the piñata form." Benavidez came to my attention through my brother, John, who sent me a link to an episode of Craft in America (streaming on PBS) which featured Benavdez's amazing pinatas. I then quickly lost myself in his creations, which play with themes of "race, sexuality, art, sin, humor, ephemerality and beauty." If you can't find something to write about in that list, look again!
But what most drew my eyes were Benavidez's paper sculptures that were inspired by another piece of art, Hieronymus Bosch's famous The Garden of Earthly Delights (also concerned with above said list...heavy on the SIN part.) It was from that body of work that I found my muse, choosing to engage not so much with sin, but with the art's humor, and the ephemerality of any physical form, be it a lifetime in a rat's twitching body or one quiet moment in a yoga pose.
Please do go look around at Benavidez's work. And if you feel inspired, pick one to write to. Here's mine: (and apologies to this beast if he's not a rat...there's no tail, but he just felt like a rat to me.)
 |
| Artwork by Roberto Benavidez from his collection "Beasts in the Garden of Earthly Delights." |
RAT YOGA
His torso is plump as an avocado,
his bandy forelegs balancing
only ripe mischief and bravado
He’s cleared his mind of the fury
of the glinting trap, the gasping terror
of a tail wrenched off in a blurry-hurry
Weightless, he’s free to grandstand,
to steady his lurching heartbeat
to a joyful march inside the bandstand
of his puffed paper chest—oh so zen,
this posing rat, only his nose
twitch-twitching now and then.
-----Sara Lewis Holmes (all rights reserved)
Poetry Friday is hosted today by Susan at Chicken Spaghetti.
