qarrtsiluni

Silent Messengers: Connecting with D’Amico #2
by Marja-Leena Rathje, printmaker and Karen d’Amico, photographer

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In Its Four Voices – Silent Messengers: Connecting with D’Amico #2

Download poem (MP3, 2.18 MB)

text by Tom Montag, audio editing by Erika Rathje, vocal performance by all four

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Nexus IX and Nexus X, by Marja-Leena Rathje

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mark

flesh to fossil
what we were
bone to stone
fell away
dark chest open
what remained
fishbone spine
etched on rock
pale rib-basket
our body-print
empty now
last tattoo

our mark

by Tall Girl

by Marja-Leena Rathje

I was majoring in painting at art school. In my last year, I took a printmaking
class, where I discovered – and fell in love with – the technique of drypoints.
Drawing with sharp metal tools onto copper was for me the closest to actually
drawing on paper. I made several drypoint self-portraits like this one that
year. Here my love affair with printmaking was sparked. It was then too late
for me to change my major, yet I decided that one day I would come back to the
medium. Some fifteen years later, I did. And, now, twenty years beyond that, I
still make art using many printmaking techniques. Can an artist fall in love
with technique? The answer is yes, and in this case the affair has lasted
almost as long as I’ve known the man I married, my other first love.

by Marja-Leena Rathje

by Marja-Leena Rathje

Etching and drypoint by Marja-Leena Rathje