“Paper Trail XI”
Collaborators’ Q&A
What inspired you to bring your work to Broadsided?
Poet S. Jason Fraley: As a previous contributor, I’ve long appreciated how Broadsided pairs art inspired by poetry. Usually, it happens the other way around, so it’s an interesting juxtaposition. It helps that Broadsided curates artwork that complements the accompanying poetry so well, with folios often forming a cohesive story of both art and literature.
What drew you to create a visual response to this poem, in particular?
Artist Millian Pham Lien Giang: I’m drawn to imagery such as paper towels that “blush” and a face freckled with “spittle.” There’s a multilayered relationship between the narrator, mother, and grandpa, and their relationship to the object that takes five hundred years to biodegrade.
How did this poem come to be?
Poet S. Jason Fraley: The poem comes from a series where I focus on growing up, abstracting myself into a legal pad because mom always wanted me to be a lawyer. I normally don’t write directly personal poetry, so I’ve used this series as a challenge to write more directly, relying less on surrealism or other writing crutches. I also attempt to incorporate more Appalachian imagery in my writing. It’s where I grew up and shaped me in ways I’m still just coming to appreciate.
How did this image come to be?
Artist Millian Pham Lien Giang: The idea of connection between multiple subjects, generations, and the bodily with the earthly inspired me to take an abstract approach with ambiguous forms and gestures in the artwork.
What did you think an artist would pick up on from your poem? Does the artist’s response make you see the poem differently?
Poet S. Jason Fraley: The poem deliberately contrasts white (and, in my case, yellow) with staining—the paper towels soaked with tobacco spit; the cups staining the field; the spackled freckles across my page—so I would have wagered as that for inspiration. The poem ends with the lily simile, but I would not have expected the artist to create a flower or plant with spackles for blooms. The white spackles against the dark backdrop almost reverse the poem’s contrasts. The artwork very much fits my conception of where I grew up: uniquely beautiful in an unconventional way. Millian brought out another layer in my poem that I hadn’t considered before, which is such a gift!
Did anything shift for you or come into new light as you began working on your visual response?
Artist Millian Pham Lien Giang: This was one of the harder poems that I’ve worked with through Broadsided. There is a strong narrative and very vivid imagery. It took me the full four months to adequately capture the sense of the poem while leaving enough room for my creative voice. I started off more illustratively, but the art evolved to become more gestural and abstract, which is more fitting to poem than my previous attempts.
What question would you like to ask your collaborator? (we will print your answers, too!)
Poet to Artist: What was your inspiration or impetus to reverse the staining imagery, with the white flower almost marring the backdrop?
Artist Millian Pham Lien Giang: What you see as the white flower is created from droplets of paint that blossoms in multiple layers. I like to abstract and make forms more ambiguous. So these can be flower blossoms or droplet blossoms, or even something else.
Artist to Poet: After reading this poem, I’m curious to know more about mother’s relationship with grandpa and how the narrator fits into their interaction.
Poet S. Jason Fraley: My mother had a loving, though strained, relationship with her dad. I adored him: he took me golfing, bought me far too much ice cream, and took interest in every little thing I did. Mom struggled with his second marriage, his unhealthy habits (evident in the poem), and from what I remember, he was not a willing patient toward the end of his life. Mom shielded me from much of that, for which I’m grateful, as I was too young to understand most of the dynamics. I don’t pretend to pass any judgement either; it’s not a subject we’ve discussed much. I wrote the poem to capture the innocence I still had when grandpa was alive, though I’m careful to have some imagery and language that undermine that innocence. In the end, I’m grateful my memories of grandpa are good.
When you consider the full folio of work from this issue (see the “related broadsides” links on the left), what questions, observations, or connections arise for you?
Artist Millian Pham Lien Giang: There’s a lot of connections between community and family, which seems pertinent to our current social climate.
Poet S. Jason Fraley: The artwork’s vividness immediately connected with me. The first several broadsides are just radiant on the page, which helps bring an immediately, a vibrancy to the words. I’m so used to seeing poetry on one page and art on another that I almost forget combining the two together results in each being enhanced. Then, starting with “Dear Dog,” there’s a shift toward more monochromatic, lower contrast work. I wondered if this color change was presented intentionally or was just a happy coincidence.
Describe your ideal “Vectorization”—where, in your wildest dreams, would you most like to see this broadside posted in the world?
Poet S. Jason Fraley: I would love to see my poem on the graffitied walls of a city like Lisbon or Asheville, two places that I associate with wildly vibrant art scenes. Though I’m increasingly surprised by some small-town renaissances in Ohio, where I see more artists revitalizing downtowns. I remind myself that art is everywhere I look.
Artist Millian Pham Lien Giang: Somewhere health-related, such as a hospital or clinic.
If this Broadsided collaboration were a type of weather, what would it be?
Poet S. Jason Fraley: It strikes me as a winter day that is periodically interrupted by both the sun and brief snow squalls. The beauty of one is enhanced by the other.
Artist Millian Pham Lien Giang: A cloudy day with a light sprinkle of rain.
Do you have a favorite, generative prompt for artists or writers you’d like to share?
Poet S. Jason Fraley: I don’t really do prompts. If anything, I take hand-written notes when I stumble across words, phrases, or entire poems that just have an inspirational quality so I can try to learn about why they click for me. This doesn’t just happen when I read poetry. I’m a banker by day. Even there, I find language inspires me in unexpected ways.
Artist Millian Pham Lien Giang: Move your hands and see what happens.
Read any good books lately?
Poet S. Jason Fraley: Poetry: Fanny Says by Nickole Brown; With My Back to the World by Victoria Chang; Plat by Lindsey Web; Mothman Apologia by Robert Wood Lynn; Orlando by Sandra Simmons. Non Fiction: The Heat Will Kill You First by Jeff Gooddell; Stolen Pride by Arlie Russell Hochschild; Blood in the Machine by Brian Merchant; Fluke by Brian Klaas; The Trading Game by Gary Stevenson.
Artist Millian Pham Lien Giang: I’m on book three of the Fourth Wing series by Rebecca Yarros.
Seen any good art lately?
Poet S. Jason Fraley: My wife and I were lucky enough to spend a week in the Asheville, North Carolina area earlier this summer working remotely. We were able to spend a day in Asheville, which not only has several wonderful galleries, but also has stores, restaurants, and public spaces filled with art. We also try to purchase a piece or two each year at our local Columbus Art Festival. Finally, we attended a “wool gathering” in Yellow Springs, Ohio earlier in the fall. It was almost like seeing art being born: long rows of stalls teeming fabrics, yarns, and many other materials that folks like my wife will use to make beautiful artwork.