come . He has upwards of 700 poems to go through for his next publication . How does he decide which poems to use ?
“ Partly , it depends on how the pieces sound together . Okay , here ’ s a collection that should be together . They should live in the book together because they enhance one another . This past September I released ‘ Calmness in Fire & Other Poems which Fell Through the Cracks – Selected Poems 1982-2017 .’ This collection included 15 or 20 of my favorite poems I ’ ve ever written but they never fit in any of the other books . Now , finally , they have a home together .”
Jensen ’ s site www . artofduanekirbyjensen . com has a subtitle , “ Exploring the fragility of identity within a landscape of emotion ,” and I asked what that meant to him .
“ I ’ ve always been interested in seeing how people react when their world crumbles .
When they reach their personal breaking point , that cracks their public façade .”
“ Part of it goes back to Tolstoy and “ Anna Karenina ,” the opening that says , ‘ All happy families are alike ; each unhappy family is unhappy in their own way ’. In other words : happy families share a common set of attributes that lead to happiness , while any of a variety of attributes can cause an unhappy family . I find that interesting . I ’ ve always been interested in seeing how people react when their world crumbles . When they reach their personal breaking point , that cracks their public façade .
of ending things . But if one looks closely , there is a gleam in their eye that indicates they might arrest their descent and struggle out of the deep well they ’ ve fallen into . I give my subjects a chance . They might not return to the life they once knew , but they will endure . This is what interests me .
“ At times I do paint more light-hearted pieces , laughing people , dancing flowers , and such . I do this in part because I need an emotional break from my darker material . They are quality pieces , but I don ’ t connect with them the way I do my more emotional work . I don ’ t feel as fulfilled . I feel the same way about my abstracts . Very cool pieces that I don ’ t feel in my gut the way my trauma work impacts me . Many of my followers love and prefer my abstracts because it allows them to go into a piece without having to react to the harsh emotions I usually pursue .”
I can imagine that some of his more emotive paintings would be challenging to some and wanted to know if that has ever caused him any issues .
“ Well , in 2011 or 2012 , I was invited to do a show at a dance studio up in Bellingham , Washington . The person who owns the studio said she loved my work . She chose each painting to hang there , so , none of them were a surprise to her . Two weeks later I got a call from her saying , ‘ I need you to take down
“ For some , it can be losing one ’ s job and becoming homeless . For others , it ’ s losing a child or spouse or being the victim of a devastating crime . For others , it can be losing control of one ’ s mental faculties . Some veterans assimilate back into society where others never can . It can also be individuals who have survived war and genocide . Each of these acts and more can change a person ’ s life — can fracture a person ’ s identity .
“ In my paintings , I will my subjects to the edge and beyond . I want to show their suffering . Their truth . Bring them to the point
“ A goat chews within the quiet beauty of the Inlet of Disappointment , that seduced sailors to a watery grave .” © 2020 By Duane Kirby Jensen , 9 x 12 ” watercolor / sketch on watercolor paper
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