After two years, and much planning, dreaming, and work, Reassurances: Incantation Bowls, Reimagined is getting ready for its debut. We are pretty sure (contracts in the works) that the collection will be exhibited in Pennsylvania in October of this year. It is truly amazing to think back to the inception of this crazy idea (read more here and here) and to realize that Tiffany Besonen and I have actually made it happen, with the help of the Minnesota State Arts Board, Region 2 Arts Council, and a number of individuals, most notably Jennifer Heath, who was there when we had the idea, helped us talk it out, and has supported it all along. Jill Odegaard is doing the same now, helping us finalize all the moving parts, and helping us imagine new moving parts.
The bowls pictured are smaller, more fragile ones, each with one line of a poem called “Litany”–a list of my wishes, for myself and for the world. The small bowls are as beautiful as the big ones, and their fragility echoes the fragility of my hopes. Both require careful handling.
I am continually amazed at the way Tiffany’s visual images enhance and expand my understanding and appreciation of my own words. Writing poetry is such a mystical process, and writing these incantations has been even more so. Listening to Tiffany’s process of thinking, and seeing how her imagery has evolved–now crow and fox are emerging as themes, with all their mythical, metaphorical and symbolic richness–has made my own process deeper and more meaningful. This is the beauty of collaboration. The work of the collaborators intertwines and informs itself and becomes something wholly different than the component parts alone.
Stay tuned for more definite news, and thanks for being interested.
LouAnn Muhm is the recipient of an Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is funded, in part, by the Minnesota State Legislature from the State’s arts and cultural heritage fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008.
LouAnn Shepard Muhm 