Teacher/Artist Q&A Note: Usually, in the Q&A, the artist and poet speak about what’s behind their creations and what seeing the other’s work prompted. However, due to Covid-19 and prison regulations, we were not able to ask poets questions at the moment of publication. We’ve asked their teachers to step in and hope, in the future, to add the poets’ voices as well. Where was this poem written, and why do you teach in the …
Note: “Ex Ovo Omnia” is a Switcheroo, an annual feature in which we invite writers to respond to art we post.
Collaborators’ Q&A
What surprises you about Jennifer’s poem in conversation with your art? Artist Julie Evanoff: Honestly, I’m surprised that she was able to pull out what seems like such a specific narrative that goes deep into the myths and stories that inform our collective and individual unconscious in a way that resonates with my sense of the painting.
What leapt out first from Julie’s art? A particular image? A mood? A line? Poet Jennifer Perrine: At first, I saw red. I was drawn in by that color, especially by the red-bodied figure on the right, and it wasn’t until days later that I realized it had reminded me of the character I’d imagined when I read Anne Carson’s Autobiography of Red (which I love!).