Vol. 140 Displacement by Prism Journal

DIS PLACE MENT 2019-2020 : “Displacement”

DISPLACEMENT PLACE LETTER FROM THE E D I T O R College means something different for every person, but its universal significance is change. A change in career; in surroundings; or in life can often make one feel... displaced. Even more poignantly, 2020 has been a displacing time for people all over the world. The increased spread of the COVID-19 virus has meant families and friends have been separated, essential facilities have had to find new means of accomodation, and the way we interact has changed in just a few short months. Displacement in all its forms is what volume 140 is about. The feeling of isolation in times of change. The acknowledgment of differences which can feel like blessings or barriers. A journal in a new, unfamiliar configuration. Sometimes, feeling “out of place” can be terrifying. But if we are never out of place, we can never share our differences nor use them bring us together. Experiencing something new can help us create so much more and better. Sometimes, light must be displaced for us to see the beauty, the rainbow. I would like to acknowledge the cover art of volume 140. “Birb” by Shae Nguyen was submitted in November and selected as the cover in late January. All in all, neither the artist nor the Prism editorial team knew what degree of significance the imagery of a plague mask might hold by the time Displacement was released. That said, the decision to go forward with using this cover was fully intentional. The global consciousness of the COVID-19 pandemic is impossible to ignore. The early months of 2020 have been a time of finding strength, a time of adapting to unprecedented circumstances, and a time of mourning. But there is also no better time than now to come together as a community. Sometimes community is shared beauty and hope, and sometimes it is acknowledgment of what we’re going through together. And I think that both of these ideals are captured by the art, literature, and music featured in Volume 140. Finally, I would like to thank the incredible people who made this first annual edition of Prism what it is. This includes Lauren Miller, Jae Kim, and the incredible Prism volunteer team and review committee. I would also like to thank the professional staff and my student peers at Orange Media Network who have been an inspiration for Prism and a help throughout the process. And especially, I would like to thank our contributors, who shared their pasison and creativity with Prism. Thank you for sharing with us, and with our community. To all of our supporters and anyone reading this, thank you for sharing and supporting in the voice of the OSU community.

Ardea C. Eichner

VO L U M E C X L

OUR MISSION Prism is dedicated to the selfexpression and creativity of Oregon State University students. Any student, regardless of major, may submit visual, literary, and multimedia art pieces to the journal via our website. Submissions are always evaluated by a review committee comprised of student volunteers and the Prism editorial team. One print edition is released each academic year with the intent of sharing the creativity and values of OSU students. In addition, Prism runs a blog entitled Backmatter and a podcast called Beyond the Page. Both feature more student work, as well as explorations into the artistic climate of our community and world. Visit our website weekly for more! orangemedianetwork.com/prism

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

SOLO

C O O P E R B A S K I N S | PHOTOGRAPHY

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ardea C. Eichner

ASSISTANT EDITOR Lauren Miller

REVIEW COMMITTEE Kevin Coalwell Paige Dingman Erin Dose Jonathan Ganal Bailey Griffice Darcy Pound Gabe Reitzes Sophie Unks Lisa Wilson Julia Zeigler

COVER ARTISTS GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jae Hyun Kim

Shae Nguyen Photography | Birb Kevin Coalwell Photography | PHANTOM

Prism Art and Literary Journal Published by Orange Media Network Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 97331

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

TABLE OF CONTENTS * CONTENT WARNING P h o t o g r a p h y | S o l o (1 )

Co o per Ba skins

P h o t o g r a p h y | S u n Vo y a g e r

6-7

P ro s e | Na t u re ’s L a n g u a g e

Lithography & Monotype |

Ha i ry Wo o d p e c k e r o n B u r n e d S n a g

A ri Knight Lexi Jo hnso n M a ry R o se H o lla nd

Pen | Observe

A na Pea rse

P o e t r y | R o t t e n Mi l k

M ega n Tucker

P o e t r y | Co n v e r s a t i o n

I sa bella Jo hnso n

Di g i t a l a r t | H o n e y

A ngel Bla ck

Mi x e d m e d i a | s k e t c h o f p i p e s

Kennie Ko ga

Poetry | Pools *

15*

J. Peters

P o e t r y | Ch r y s a l i s

So phie U nks

Photography | Safe Haven

H a sa ni Ka sthuria ra chchi

P o e t r y | Ci t ro n S u m m e r s

Ja den Bella my

A c r y l i c p a i n t | Ye l l o w H u e

H a nna H elf t

P h o t o g r a p h y | Ab a n d o n e d

Ca rlee Wo r mingto n

P oet r y | Wa s t e (An g s t y P o e m 3 )

Ga be R eitzes

Mi x ed m e d i a | Z o m b i e o f t h e De e p

Felin H a za ni

Photography | Leo

Ka lia Pinco ck

Photography | Suspension

Ga be R eitzes

25 & 27

C reat iv e n o n f i c t i o n | B r i d g e t o wn Ink | Reconstruction

Ja da Krening R o bin Weis

P hot og r a p h y | Arc t i c Te r n S c re a m s .. .

A ri Knight

Poetry | Egg Tide

A lex Grejuc

P oetr y | W h e n t h e Mu s e S p e a k s

Lea h Ka hn

Wa t e rc o l o r, p e n | m y h e a r t i s ...

Avery D ennis-Pa vlich

Prism Art and Literary Journal

Poetry | For Willa

Lisa W ilso n

D enue Gra nt R o bin Weis A shley V illa seño r A shley V illa seño r A shley V illa seño r E mmet R itter E mmet R itter Ca rlee Wo r mingto n E rin D o se Jo hnny Bruna c Ja mie La nza Ka lia Pinco ck M a ry Wo ng M a ry Wo ng Ja co b Le H ea ther H o yt Felin H a za ni A ngel Bla ck Lexi Jo hnso n La urel Brinso n-La rra bee I sa bella Jo hnso n A rden Smith Tessa Co ff ey I ndica Blue I ndica Blue Ba iley Griff ice R idw a na R a hma n M ega n Tucker

34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54-55 56 57

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

* CONTENT WARNING

P o e t r y | S o n g b i rd ’s An t h e m P oet r y | S o n g b i rd ’s S e c o n d An t h e m Wa t e rc o l o r | T h e E m p t y S p o t Poetry | For Raisa P hoto g r a p h y | Ne w Yo r k S e a m s Di g i t a l l y ed i t e d p h o t o g r a p h y | Do n ’t Cr y Poetry | Summer A c r y l i c P a i n t | Mo r n i n g L i t hog r ap hy & M o n o t y p e | S e l f P o r t r a i t P oet r y | O n Co n v i n c i n g My s e l f ... P hot og r aph y [ s e r i e s ] | A Co l l e c t i o n ... D eat h Met a l P o e t r y | s h e re s i g n e d ... * E n c a u s t i c w a x | Di v i d e P o e t r y | i m p ro v i s a t i o n P oet r y & P h o t o g r a p h y | d e p a r t u re P h o t o g r a p h y | S e l f -P o r t r a i t Di g i t a l A r t | E n v y P rov ost ’s L i t e r a r y P r i z e | W i n d o ws P rov ost ’s L i t er a r y P r i z e | Ch o r u s o f y o u r... * Ink w a s h o n p a p e r | F a l l e n -H e ro Photography | WTF P ro s e | H o l y S p a c e J u i c e Di g i t a l A r t | Co m i n g H o m e Di g i t a l M u s i c | c o re .r a d i o + + G ui t ar, Voi c e, B a s s | W h e n S u m m e r E n d s G ui t ar, Vo i c e , B a s s | H o t Ch o c o l a t e P hot og r a p h y | S u n s e t O v e r O re g o n Ar t i s t S t a t e m e n t s A c r y l i c P a i n t | Ca n I h i t y o u r J u u l ?

58 59 60 61 62-63 64 65 66 67 68 69* 70 71-73 74 75 76 78-79 80-81* 82 83 84-85 86 87 88-89 90-95 96

Ka rl M cO mber Ka rl M cO mber A lexa ndra Wa lchli A ma nda Sw eo D enue Gra nt Ja mie La nza E rin D o se Tzu-Yi Cha ng M a ry R o se H o lla nd Lisa W ilso n Ca sey Wa rd Po cket Pa tino H unter Keller No la n Clements So phie U nks Ja den Bella my Synia Khunpra cha nsri E rin D o se Tia La tta nzio Q uinn Buer meyer Julia Zeigler R o byn Schreiber Ava M enchu Synia Khunpra cha nsri D a ne Zurw ell D a ne Zurw ell H o pe M o unts Tessa Co ff ey

Prism Art and Literary Journal

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

SUN VOYAGER ARI KNIGHT | PHOTOGRAPHY

A U T H O R | MEDIUM

Prism Art and Literary Journal

NATUREâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LANGUAGE A murmuration of birds migrating and making mass can be considered a single organism when in flight together. They move in singularity, as an ever-changing shape. Their movements maintain momentum as they communicate in a wordless language. A language that is not tethered to the prison cell that is captained by words and fluff. Language that does not require the overuse of words is the language of flora and fauna. Trees send nutrients to other trees through their roots and ants follow hormone trails left by other ants to know which path is the one to take. Simple. Mobilizing a monumental and mandatory change! Calling all sensory deprived humans to silence their mouths and to move with each other like the birds.

L E X I J O H N S ON | PROSE

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

HAIRY WOODPECKER ON BURNED SNAG

M A R Y R O S E H O LL A N D | L ITHOGRAPHY & MONOTYPE

Prism Art and Literary Journal

OBSERVE

A N A P E A R SE | PEN

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

ROTTEN MILK Anger curdles in my stomach like spoiled milk in a bottle. Leave it to fester; watch it clump and congeal each day until the stench becomes too putrid to tolerate. I open the bottle, releasing the scent of pepperoni pizza. It permeates my skin. And colors our memories of tossing around quotes. of musicals poorly imitated. of shared secret gardens. Your tear stains still mar my shirt, and my fingerprints still indent your arm where I clutched it in a vice grip for balance. (I broke a year’s worth of promises without picking up the pieces.) You tore up our friendship like a bad poem.

M E G A N T U C K E R | POETRY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

CONVERSATION She smells like his shampoo Cucumbers, and sweat "I even love your faded tattoos." "Jewels shatter like demon's teeth Beneath my feet"--he pauses, he's looking at his hands, He can't meet her gaze She reaches for his fingertips "I am part sun-fish, Drained of salt-water, morning upon morning." "Mosquitoes drink not My liquor blood, anymore." Chalk splinters like dinosaur bones Hand-prints dust his shirt "You taste like sunshine jam, Grapefruit-sour, strawberry-sweet." "Bound by your daisy chains--" He is still, he is overtaken by her touch "Please give me your tears to drink, Let me bear them instead." "You used to speak kindly to me, Drumming to the beat of your own soul Where the world meets the wild." Silence dusts their tongues. One turns to the West, The other to farthest East-And they never looked back.

I S A B E L L A J O H N SON | POETRY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

HONEY

A N G E L B L A C K | DIGITAL ART

Prism Art and Literary Journal

SKETCH OF PIPES

K E N K O G A | MIXED MEDIA

2019-2020 : â&#x20AC;&#x153;Displacementâ&#x20AC;?

POOLS Content Warning: Blood

I was born bleeding Not always dripping and red A fragmented dust gathered everywhere heaviness fed cracking apart the cellular walls I needed crushing like a watermelon seeded all over my brain chemistry invisible once spread with little sense remaining everything else dissipating into liquidized pools of insecurity I promised myself never another tyranny of weakness At the mercy of my own sweetness I was born bleeding but need not die this way I admit I pray to a god I do not believe in And falsely claim to a never minding Anticipation of lonely pain An ever binding drain not refillable in the silence of the night

J . P E T E R S | POETRY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

CHRYSALIS It is time to molt, And shed the skin Of feelings I think I should be feeling -Colors I am told are best for me, Patterns they would have me wear, they dress me In the prettiest things, Decapitate me, force open my wings; It is time to molt, And shed the skin of expectations; Learn to wrap myself, no limitations, With feelings that color me afraid Color me angry, Color me ashamed, I am nothing if I am a painting of should beâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, and I should be Honest. Honestly, I do not want to be clothed with your pretty colors and wishful thinking; I will writhe no longer in this chrysalis of shrinking, Growing just to be seen, Swaddled to produce green, While brown is not accepted. I feel brown so often, And still will wrap myself in a beautiful green. It is time to molt.

S O P H I E U N K S | POETRY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

TITLE

SAFE HAVEN H A S AANUIT HKOARS T|HURIARACHCHI | PHOTOGRAPHY MEDIUM

Prism Art and Literary Journal

CITRON SUMMERS

Together we had many peaceful summer nights, Chasing the wind of the trees down the creek Hand-in-hand, Laying upon the delicate daisies, Plum picking in bare feet. Soft pink lips and Deep brown eyes Dotted by gentle sunbeams. I bite into a citron Peel and all, And am reminded of you. My love, Our summer has come to an end. And you have left me With sweet memories, And a bitter taste in my mouth.

J A D E N B E L L A MY | POETRY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

YELLOW HUE

H A N N A H E L F T | ACRYLIC PAINT

Prism Art and Literary Journal

ABANDONED

CA R L E E W O R M I N G T O N | PHOTOGRAPHY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

WASTE (ANGSTY POEM 3) Trash bag flag flapping Lagging nasty laughter catching My head rolls down a sunbaked street And melting gum clings to my feet The yellow welts felt swelling Smelly hell telling fellow Tumbleweeds avoid this place I wipe my brow and scratch my face A zombie lives inside of me And worships at the Dollar Tree® Flashback to a backstreet In a hatchback in the backseat Rain falls fast and splats flat At last I understand the rat Or what it means to be alone Adrift within the world unknown Stagger, stammer, through the night And pick at my internal blight I question who I’m meant to be Pray mercy from the Dollar Tree® Head pounding on the ground downtown The sound resounding all around In darkened fog, but just beyond, A glowing sign of green neon Numb stumbling becomes a run I mumble, dumb-stunned by my sun The moon and stars are all but gone This temple hails the midnight dawn I found the place to set me free Salvation is the Dollar Tree®

G A B E R E I T Z E S | POETRY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

ZOMBIE OF THE DEEP

F E L I N H A Z A N I | MIXED MEDIA

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

LEO

K A L I A P I N C O C K | PHOTOGRAPHY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

SUSPENSION

G A B E R E I T Z E S | PHOTOGRAPHY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

BRIDGETOWN At the north end of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, the cruising water of the Willamette River divides the city of Portland in two. The water, flowing 187 miles throughout the state, provided a crucial route for the transportation of goods and services in the city’s early days. Yet, in the 1850s, the need for connectivity became even more imperative. And with the city’s first vital connection between the two shores in 1887 — the Morrison Bridge — Portland became even more robust and more lively, eliminating a key physical barrier and providing closer relations for Portlanders on the east and west. The two sides of the city became one. Bridges were constructed for various purposes throughout the years, built to sustain the city’s electric trolley system, to serve the city’s growing reliance on automobiles, to foster the birth of the Interstate Highway System. Now, the bridges remain a trademark of the city, each spanning great lengths across the murky Willamette below. They define the city’s culture and aesthetic, providing some of the greatest views of city lights in the evening or towering buildings amidst hazy clouds on a rainy day. The highest point on the top level of the Marquam provides an expansive and breathtaking view of the city below, while a drive across the Burnside from the east leads you directly into the center of downtown, all the while showcasing the iconic “Portland Oregon” sign to the right. Each bridge captures a unique style and character: the green, gothic, and grand St. Johns; the rusty and rail-only Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge; the sleek and modern Fremont; the brick-red Broadway; the dark and double-decked Steel; the Italian Renaissance-style Burnside; the minimalist Morrison, featuring multi-colored light displays; the lively and busy Hawthorne; the ugly but functional Marquam; the modernist Tilikum; Ross Island, the gateway to Mt. Hood; and the mundane Sellwood. The Steel can raise both its decks in 90 seconds, lifting more than nine million pounds, while the Fremont is the longest bridge structure in the Oregon highway system. The Hawthorne, originally designed to prevent horses from jumping over its sides, is the nation’s last vertical-lift bridge in operation. The St. Johns is the tallest bridge in Portland, and was considered an architectural victory at the time of its conception in 1931, largely due to its long span, suspension cables, and thick concrete piers. The Marquam, though utilitarian and bland, is the busiest bridge in the state of Oregon, carrying over 136,000 cars a day on I-5.

Continued on following pages

J A D A K R E N I N G | C R EATIVE NONFICTION

Prism Art and Literary Journal

RECONSTRUCTION

R O B I N W E IS | INK

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

BRIDGETOWN, CONT. Below the bridges, Portlanders bike and run and walk; kids skateboard or skip rocks on shallow shores alongside the water. Many live, creating their own homes and camps under the shelter of the bridges. Others lay out on the docks alongside the Hawthorne on warm days, or stroll through Waterfront Park, passing under the Burnside or Morrison along the way. Under the great concrete structures of the Marquam lies the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, housed in a power plant once owned by Portland General Electric. Inside the vast and airy factory-like space, children build their own bridges: structures made from colorful foam blocks, meticulously placed to avoid collapse. I too built bridges there, often alongside my brother, who would hold one side of the stacked foam blocks together to ensure stability as I placed the last block just right in the middle, creating a beautiful arc and a finished product to be proud of. We cherished this connection between the two of us, the completion of a task which would not be possible alone. Upon leaving the museum, in the bright sunny days of a Portland summer, we would walk outside to look out at the glistening waters of the Willamette from the paved walkway by the parking lot, amongst the enormous concrete pillars of the Marquam. As we leaned against the metal railing above the river, we would pause, watch, and listen: to the cars overhead, to roar and bustle above, to the bridges that connect one side to the other.

Sources: • “The Bridges of Portland” - Jim Kettner, Travel Oregon • “The Design Stories Behind Portland’s 5 Greatest Bridges” - Alex Madison, Portland Monthly • “National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form” - United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Oregon.gov • “Facts About the Willamette River” - Willamette Riverkeeper.

J A D A K R E N I N G | C R EATIVE NONFICTION

Prism Art and Literary Journal

ARCTIC TERN SCREAMS INTO THE ABYSS

A R I K N I G H T | PHOTOGRAPHY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

EGG TIDE

The little birds scamper towards the water across the wet ocean sand They peck rapidly for their noontime lunch And as the the wave rushes back They scurry away in unison I watch it happen over and over again And I can’t help but smile It’s as if Their grey little bodies With white underbellies Become an ocean of their own And I can’t help but think The tide goes in Later the tide will fly out into the sky And shit on someone’s shiny red Ferarri

A L E X G R E J U C | POETRY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

WHEN THE MUSE SPEAKS

When the Muse speaks, I listen. When she spills sonnets of sadness on me, That sting my skin, and scar my soulI cry words. When she sings of stars, and the sea, and the skyOf the sun that sets on a lullaby, I listen, listless, restless, whileMy ears bleed, And my soul sighs, And my breath comes out in rhythm. When she's here I seldom sleep, I barely breathe, I fasting feedOn only words she says to me, A meager meal of Melody. I write, I write, words without cease, With worn hands withered from working 'neath, The muses' most melodic gazeFor when she's gone, I'm blank.

L E A H K A H N | POETRY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

MY HEART IS AN OVERGROWN GARDEN

A V E R Y D E N N I S - P A V L I C H | WATERCOLOR, PEN

Prism Art and Literary Journal

FOR WILLA When I look up into the night sky and my chest expands flooding with a sense of relief that I am part of the spinning with no effort on my part Can you feel it through the years, smiling at our resemblance whispering, “I know” I have no desire to drift through outer space to float on the sea I don’t trust anything so infinite I let myself stop believing in heaven and this world became sweeping again If we get any measure of choice let me be dissolved into something complete, entire into the sky, into the stillness when it snows into the early morning light of June fresh with possibility Let me be dissolved into happiness Let all these pieces I have kept, discarding nothing, held close, pondered arranged into patchwork meaning Let them scatter from me and return back to the earth whole

L I S A W I L S O N | POETRY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

BOMB CYCLONE IMMINENT D E N U E G R A N T | PHOTOGRAPHY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

WINTER Ice-flecked lover, Skin cold as the bitter snow, Kept under covers, There bruised flesh and brittle bone Fed the fire That found home in spoked thrones. Heart pumping iron, Metallic taste, cotton clones. You were my desire, Will to aspire, As fingers prodded cheeks like sunken stones, Shifting below the rippling surface Were the echoes of lost purpose Oh, how your heart became home. Tattered curtains, slight coverage Of the fumbling curses Sung on those nights. Clinging to collapsed cages, "Everything will be alright."

R O B I N W E I S | POETRY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

WE TIME

LIKE ONE OF YOUR FRENCH GIRLS

QUITE SIMPLY, THIS IS A SKELETON FATHER PUSHING HIS INFANT OCTOPUS SON THROUGH THE PARK

A S H L E Y V I L L A S E Ñ O R | MIXED MEDIA

Prism Art and Literary Journal

SOUND WAVES & STATIC EMMET RITTER | PHOTOGRAPHY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

Prism Art and Literary Journal

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;D GIVE YOU THE MOON IF I COULD CA R L E E W O R M I N G T O N | PHOTOGRAPHY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

ENVIRONMENTALISM no one knows me here because the stickers on my water bottle are gone the dishwasher pulled piece by delicate piece off until fluffy gray shapes were all that remained we sit and debate forest fires, avalanches disease and what to eat for dinner, a puddle of viscous fear already in our stomachs i wait until i am home cross legged on twice-vacuumed carpet and confess who i am to a tired cat, holding out the blank bottle“i used to have colors here, and here, and here.” my fingernail clicks against the metal and it is hollow he looks away, oblivious and sleepy we both shut our eyes just for a moment

E R I N D O S E | POETRY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

FISH BOWL BLUES

my eyes sunk into the back of my head trying to look through the warped and weathered glass of my brick castle that nestled itself into the side of a hill, i came to the realization i currently live in a fishbowl and suddenly canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t breathe. my chest collapses when rainwater slowly drips then pours then drips again filling the bottom of the bowl while murky clouds gather at the brim tears roll down my face and fill every crevice of my body like a resin iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m frozen under thick pebbles that line the bottom of the castle if aimed at the precise trajectory of forty-five degrees with enough force pebbles can shatter any glass what a beautiful cracking it creates.

J O H N N Y B R U N AC | POETRY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

SOLO

C O O P E R B A S K I N S | PHOTOGRAPHY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

PACIFIC CITY

K A L I A P I N C O C K | PHOTOGRAPHY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

EBOLA MARY WONG | POETRY

VIRAL PORTRAITURE: EBOLA M A R Y WONG | PAINT

Armored pathogen Saturation imminent Evade destruction Eroding defense Homeostasis lacking Feedback loop falters Hope lies in science Biological vessel Put your faith in me Mental confusion Staving off reality Viral load unfurls Astute affliction Containment remains crucial Losing the battle Promote awareness Resolution in our grasp Hope and virus thrive

Prism Art and Literary Journal

KELSEY

J A C O B L E | PHOTOGRAPHY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

INTERNAL LIGHTROOM Fix this: moody, emotional, hormonal, tired. I thought I could— fiddling with knobs enough to make me come into focus. I hated the word, (depression), exposure decreasing and decreasing, but what I feel is not black and dead. I am alive in contrast, dying in contrast. (mixed state) My photo my mind needs to look like the world adjust tone and white balance on gray but the capture is off colors/details disappear into black and white and shapes. Dial it down, fluctuate the numbers, miss normal in the auto settings and I am screaming. Sunshine burns and brings a companion of dark, black and I am strangling I am rotating around and around I can’t see past my brain. I shove white triangles down my throat; I run past photographs. and I am okay.

H E A T H E R H O Y T | POETRY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

THE FUN GUYS

F E L I N H A Z A N I | MIXED MEDIA

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

SPACE CADET

A N G E L B L A C K | DIGITAL ART

Prism Art and Literary Journal

HUMAN SOUP

i am sitting in my car, waiting for a red light to turn green. a bus passes in front of my vision and i see a distinct silhouette of a man sitting at the window as it flies by. time slowed; i see the profile of his face. i ponder over the wonder of the moment. to think of how fleeting that particle of time and history, and yet i was able to grab hold of meaning in a stranger as he flew out of my direct consciousness. to think about how many human souls we walk by, drive by, make eye contact with, shrug past, fly over. it overwhelms and saturates you, this human soup that we trod through daily. attention perpetually drawn inward, we casually ignore those who are foreign to our lives and we then retreat inside a shell; we pretend. what does this reveal to us about our culture, our shared ego? uneasiness takes hold of me upon realizing such a fascinating bigger picture in the grand scheme of it all. take the time to occasionally remind yourself of such truths. youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re just another addition to the soup.

L E X I J O H N S ON | PROSE

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

BOBBY JONES

L A U R E L B R I N S O N - L A R RABEE | PHOTOGRAPHY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S RAINING SUN

It's raining sun Trees are born when light dies I am ocean young Thread undone Raining sun Behold this King of Broken Things Midnight Lion, Dawnlight Tiger World's burning Blackened ferns like skeletons In the whites of his golden eyes In the whites of his shining eyes His coat slashed diamond mines And the monarch's purple wings In the depths of an orange sky In the depths of a silent sky

Who are you, really? All the years, one so weary Tears that only strangers see Who are you becoming? Who are you becoming? Moths still die After transforming Little by little by tender little die Scorched by frost Burned by ice Fall into the sky Rain down light Ray of sunshine or Bolt of lightning I am this ray I am this bolt Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s raining sun

I S A B E L L A J O H N SON | POETRY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

MAY QUEEN A R D E N S MITH | ACRYLIC PAINT

Prism Art and Literary Journal

BOMBS AWAY

TE S S A C O F F E Y | INK, WATERCOLOR

2019-2020 : â&#x20AC;&#x153;Displacementâ&#x20AC;?

DIRTY DISHES I stand at the kitchen sink. A breeze slips through the window. I am content. I turn on the faucet and out flood thoughts of you. Memories of us resurfaced. I am the soap squeezed generously and you are the scalding pressure of water rushing to meet me. Our collision floods the sink with suds and bubbles and I giggle softly. Just as the sun shines through the window and covers me in warmth, so did moments with you. I force my hands to scrub the dishes coated in fallacies of fun and focus on the reality of crusted knives and sour lies. When I pull my hands out, sweat sits along the hairline of my neck. Dirty water is all that is left.

DIRTY DISHES PART II I stare at the kitchen sink full of dirty stagnant water. Pull the plug, dry my hands, walk away.

I N D I C A B L U E | POETRY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

SUNSHINE

The last time I saw the sunset was a day I don’t remember. Looking

back on it must have been a lovely summer sunset. Full of warm shades of color and that sense of nostalgia that can only come from those shades of orange and purple. I wish I’d been paying better attention to it. I’d wish I’d been paying more attention that night in general.

But now I’m here in a world of muted greens, browns, and grays.

There are many others down here with me, but none of them are the one that turned me. Most have been living this way for centuries now, just outside the vision of humanity. They’re like rats, coming out from the dark of the sewers to pick off the weak or the lonely. I’d be disgusted if it wasn’t for the fact that every time I looked into the wet sludge of the sewers I saw their face staring back at me. Pale, bloodless, and definitely not as attractive as Hollywood wants you to think the undead are.

The vampires of the sewers have lived like this since humans have had

cities, hiding in the refuse and drinking the blood of whatever they can find. It’s a way to live, but when I run my hands through my hair and come back with huge clumps or when my stomach constantly rumbles for something more, I realize something. It’s a way to live, but I’m not alive.

Which is why I’m weaving between the pews of the church a few

minutes outside of town. One of the horribly older vampires had rambled on about how the blood of holy men can redeem any one of us. That the blood can return us to our old selves. The old priest had not even heard me sneak into the chapel. His bald head was bent in nightly prayer and softly lit by the warm oranges of the candles. I crept up behind him and leaned in.

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

“How may I help you, my child?” He did not look up from where he

kneeled, looking towards the still darkened stained glass above.

“....I don’t think you can help someone like me, Father.”

He let out a light chuckle from underneath his prayers, “If I didn’t want

to at least try to help folks I wouldn’t be very good at my job now, would I? So, penny for your thoughts my child?”

I don’t remember anything before the night I was turned, but those

soft words. They could have come from someone I’d once known. From a Father. A grandfather. Maybe this very priest could have been my priest at one point. I could have been knelt beside him once, human, whole. My stomach ached with such a deep hunger. This wasn’t a way to live. Preying on the people we may have left behind. But I was so hungry. For blood, for flesh, for redemption.

I left him there in the church after saying a small goodnight. Like I said,

the way we live can certainly be seen as just that, just a way to live. But having to hide, having to prey on others, I do not believe that’s a life worth living. So I left the church and took a slow stroll to the small graveyard. The view of the horizon was not obstructed by the city, so I made myself cozy at the base of one of the headstones.

It was cold out as the sky slowly began to lighten. Looking back on it

I think I remember having an ice-cold beer as I watched the warm sunset that night. Maybe someone else had been there with me, maybe I had been alone. That last sunset must have been so beautiful. I wish I could have shivered as I slowly saw the breaking golds and oranges of the sunrise over the horizon.

B A I L E Y G R I F F ICE | PROSE

Prism Art and Literary Journal

FRUITS IN CAIRO

R I D W A N A R A H M A N | PHOTOGRAPHY

2019-2020 : â&#x20AC;&#x153;Displacementâ&#x20AC;?

THE FEELING OF YOUR VOICE

Blades of barley calcified shatter sonorously like the peal of waves on stone and the crackle of umber leaves in harvest. Blinding breath rises from a thermos of tea, caressing my cheek as I confide in the scent of cinnamon: my daydreams are laced with heartstrings.

M E G A N T U C K E R | POETRY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

SONGBIRDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ANTHEM K A R L M C O M B E R | POETRY

Bluebird Bluebird Sitting in the tree, Will you sing your song to me? Sing it loud And sing it free, Break my cage And toss the key. Bluebird Bluebird Healing on the limb, Will you hum that tune to him? Hum it long And hum it sweet, Soar his mind And quell that heat. Bluebird Bluebird Flying from the fir, Will you fan those wings to her? Fan them hard And fan them free, Bare her soul And clear that sea. Bluebird Bluebird Sing to me.

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

SONGBIRD’S SECOND ANTHEM K A R L M C O M B E R | POETRY

Why wait? Why not fly? Fly far.

I’ll watch

As you float

On by,

Through me

And past my

Soft skies.

I’ll stall

While you soar

Up high,

On top

Of my world

And life.

THE EMPTY SPOT AL E X A N D R A W A L C H LI | WATERCOLOR

Prism Art and Literary Journal

RAISA

Resisting the urge to call out Always leads to my own Idiotic expression of Some kind of issue that A friend could really fix

A M A N D A S W E O | POETRY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

NEW YORK SEAMS D E N U E G R A N T | PHOTOGRAPHY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

DON’T CRY J A MI E L A N Z A | D I G I T A L L Y EDITED PHOTOGRAPHY 63

Prism Art and Literary Journal

SUMMER We lost all sense of time Hours minutes seconds Drifting away like a bottle in the waves The tides were all we had Aside, of course, from each other Sandy feet stung by rocks and laughter carried away in the wind Hunting out shiny purple fragments of shells, Your lips tasted like salt and Your fingers found the tangles in my hair We stood atop an ancient cliff Searching the skyline for hints of morning light You took off your watch, held it up, (a brilliant, shining element of the past) And let it goFalling down, Finding a place between the waves And sinking The sun breaks over the water The tide is high We are together

E R I N D O S E | POETRY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

MORNING

T Z U - Y I C H A N G | ACRYLIC PAINT

Prism Art and Literary Journal

SELF PORTRAIT

M A R Y R O S E H O LL A N D | L ITHOGRAPHY & MONOTYPE

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

ON CONVINCING MYSELF THERE ARE OTHER SEASONS

the chill is nearing the fire in the sky dims but not before it lights a smoky haze of leaves and lessons and traces a path beyond what we thought we needed it’s the end of summer the end of brightness buoyancy where we’re told we’ll find joy jumping from waterfalls fireworks streaking past stars now there’s a darkness and a settling cold coming but this window feels hopeful, jumbled enough to see us through a golden vein coursing forward it is sure it is declarative yet it is desperate still grasping scraping the sky for enough light to see your face willing you to say “yes” again

fall always felt like a failure after a summer frantic and languid neon-glow and exhausting autumn, in its shadows, takes revenge on summer’s slights hidden in the glare of sunbeams no longer life stonier, unyielding, real but the rust in my blood did not seep into yours I fell in love with you, the way you catch the light throw back the good into starker relief the rain is gone and the rain will come again you remain all burnt orange and gold hoop earrings making your own space for glory, rejoicing a chill in the air but warmth in your glow

L I S A W I L S O N | POETRY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

A COLLECTION OF MY CLASSWORK

C A S E Y W A R D | PHOTOGRAPHY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

SH E RESIGNED TO CHEW THE STEAK, GARNERED FROM THE SACRED COW Content Warning: Sex, Vulgarity, Language

[())ylove]. isoughttofillbut-o’ r(flew judgmenloss diluteD mOaN(isspread “O’pen u|p” [A00U0AAAU00A6666HHH[ Baptism!all Sin(Forg ivin!well)CumNormL-ivinG] [Virgin!Placenta!(milkycun ; fesion[‘mserious.ukno.w?]] ‘ElE’ ctrificationBownD)eD. ICTion ailedinJOY) L, e(GAL) redundant penetration] Vibrate!Higher! forcedtocum CHURCH wrth!brth!hrse!! ! [E(ffects)A(ffect)] powersB killed every potential love of of of ofofgenocide pussy “what weEven #%$&ing for?i” BUT i DON’T REST. i WANT. Rock]Roll] straddledbymec hanicalbul[vibe.rantSat.rate d fondled))whorcigregret] N)0 Mother>mother>mothersII (n’ hailing(Xpired per(fumes)o; nly8OWrsRiP.iNG=FEELiNG //:SharerofmyCoughN’ “0 missMary work”PROSTrATE^ lly)button!Crush ‘neathheel. wh.yCantYoU.nder.Standi.MT.ry.IngtoKeepit REAL N’ewsavior S.aimebehavior Bon’&amp;geHowItTaste? that;.. fetusflavor YUH.

P O C K E T P A T I N O | D EATH METAL POETRY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

DIVIDE

H U N T E R K E L L E R | ENCAUSTIC WAX

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

IMPROVISATION

Improvisation? Like keys on a piano? Like Miles and Coltrane? Like the blues scale? Or just a stream of consciousness? Like the blue car outside? Or the friend sitting next to me? Or the looming reality of life, Booming loud in my ears? Its persistently beats, College and school, Trying to be cool, Playing horn, Trying to stay socially warm. It persistently beats. Improvisation. You may wonder, Is this rap? Nah man, this is improvisation. I watch this nation, And the world, commit to their own decimation. Improvisation. Big men, big women Controlling our limitations. Big men, big women Doing standard deviation. Big men, big women Sitting on the street Nothing they can do to escape their own damnation. Improvisation.

Continued on following pages

N O L A N C L E M E N TS | POETRY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

IMPROVISATION, CONT. I sit here, and write this poem Worrying about my grades, Worry about if my bed is made, Worrying about the birds outside, Worrying about my life that is a bus ride. And then I think, Why am I not worrying about the homeless man on the corner, Moneyless, and poor? Or global warming who knocks at our door? Man, the world is a bad place, Running itself into the ground at a rapid pace. Improvisation. But then I think, As I sit here and write a poem about the blight, That maybe the world doesn’t stink. Optimism not pessimism, The world is cool. Birds, people, and I-love-yous. What a wonderful world, the song goes. People who help each other, People who do good things, People who propose with a ring, People who go out and sing, People who. Improvisation. Reflecting on what I’ve just wrote, I think, I’ve ranted about the world’s badness, I’ve ranted about the world’s gladness. But what does this do? Absolutely nothing. We go on with our lives, Good or bad, Happy or angry, Rich or poor, Fat or starving, Genius or ignorant. We go on with our lives. Improvisation. 72

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

But this gets me thinking even more. What is life? The human race started out with sticks and stones, Running after large, hairy elephants, Copulating and repopulating. The soldier in the the Revolutionary War fought for something, Freedom and justice, no matter how bad the sting. Now we Go to school, Go to work, Wander the streets, Improvisation again? Play in the dirt, Improvisation? Make money, Like keys on a piano? Make a family, Like Miles and Coltrane? Harvest honey, Like the blues scale? And live life. Or just a stream of consciousness? Improvisation. Like the blue car outside? Or the friend sitting next to me? No Well, yes. These things are improv so to say, But so is the life we live everyday. The people we greet, The food that we eat, The music we play, And the words that we say. Like the melodies from Brubeck’s fingers and Wooten’s strings, We live our lives from day to day, Making it up along the way. Fast songs and slow song, We play it all. Loving our family, our passion, our husband, or our wife. We improvise our life. Improvisation.

N O L A N C L E M E N TS | POETRY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

DEPARTURE

S O P H I E U N K S | P O E TRY & PHOTOGRAPHY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

SELF-PORTRAIT

J A D E N B E L L A M Y | PHOTOGRAPHY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

ENVY

S Y N I A K H U N P R A C H A N SRI | DIGITAL ART

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

2020 PROVOST’S LITERARY PRIZE ARTIST STATEMENTS Windows By Erin Dose In my experience, writing has always been composed of two key ideas: relationships and identities. In Windows, these concepts lean on each other at first and then fall apart as the protagonist struggles to grasp her own identity while obsessing over, and falling in love with, people she’s never met. Chorus of your making By Tia Lattanzio While at an antique store trying to find inspiration for a new poem, I found a beautiful African instrument. I’m not sure what it is called, but it spoke to me and I instantly began writing this poem down. It became a history of the instrument; a fictional yet believable story of its beginnings and its lifetime. I spent several months tweaking and rewriting it, and it ended up to be something I am proud of. Chorus of your making has many layers and meanings, and I hope it speaks to everyone in their own way.

Prism Art and Literary Journal

WINDOWS I became fascinated with the lives of strangers as a night janitor. After high school, my father’s child support payments stopped arriving and out of necessity, I went to work with my mom in matching blue waffle knit uniforms, a pair of bookend Polish cleaning ladies washed orange under the streetlights. We would take the bus to the subway and then ride the F train to Midtown each night at eight, settling down in the back with the other cleaning women, clutching our tupperwares filled with varied meat and potato dishes as colorful club-bound people flowed around us, laughing and fighting and applying makeup. We walked a short block to our building, weaving through the clusters of tourists and fast-walking city natives as I gazed up at the brilliant gold and white squares of illuminated windows above us. The security guard’s name was TJ. He had worked in the building for years, reclining behind the desk where he could view each doorway on dusty monitors and sip his oversized thermos of coffee with just a splash of Kahlua. He called me by my Polish name, Ksenia, instead of my preferred name Kasey, but it sounded right in his gravelly voice so I never addressed it. He always let us in with a tired smile, cautiously flipping the heavy metal locks behind us while we walked to the elevator. “Still loving the night shift?” he called after us every time. “Always!” My mom would reply as she pressed the button, illuminating a perfect circle around the number 2 in fancy script. We alternated--on even numbered floors, I would clean the bathrooms while my mother vacuumed the carpets and gathered trash bags. When it was my turn to push the vacuum across the offices on odd numbered floors, I looked quickly into each cubicle, ignoring the stacks of papers and computers on sleep mode to find what I really wanted-photos of family members and pets, waxy fake plants, forgotten sweaters hanging off the backs of chairs. Everything was cold and sleepy under the half-lit lights. On floor five, I always ran a fingertip over the ear of a gray ceramic cat and wondered if it matched the pet at home, if the owner of the desk was petting a real animal as I felt the cool surface of the fake one. At the back corner of floor eleven, I looked briefly into the blank glassy eyes of off-brand stuffed animals and pictured a grandmother type arranging them hurriedly each morning before a daily meeting. I closely examined a tack-studded map of the world on floor seventeen, speculating which country the employee would visit next--India, maybe, or Greece, or South Africa, somewhere far enough away to forget about the map until they returned and pressed a fresh blue tack into the glossy paper with a smile.

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

For years, my fascination pulled me out of the building each night on the top floor. It was just past three a.m. and we always took a quick break before heading downstairs to take the trash out and clean the lobby, our final tasks before TJ handed us cups of sugary coffee for the train ride home. We sat in the lounge near the elevators, the puffy chairs shoved up against the floor to ceiling windows. My mom scrolled through her phone and I looked into the other buildings. Most of the windows were dark but I could watch other cleaning ladies scrub their final surfaces and unplug their vacuums. In apartment buildings, my favorite, I could see some people getting ready for work, brushing their teeth and eating bowls of cereal, pulling on sweaters and exchanging quick kisses goodbye. Other people were just coming home after parties and clubs, tossing off their clothes and falling into bed. The apartment I loved the most was directly across from where we sat against the window. Two girls lived there, just a few years older than me, in a green apartment filled with eclectic furniture and cluttered with plants and books. Lamps burned in each room, lighting them up just enough for me to distinguish a long red mane on one of them and short curly black hair on the other. Sometimes they had small parties, little groups of men and women drinking and dancing in their cozy living room or curled up on the couch, watching a movie. Most of the time it was just them--getting ready for bed, talking and laughing about something that would always be a mystery to me. I prescribed different stories: the dark haired girl managed a coffee shop and she spilled a smoothie on herself earlier; the two of them were hit on at the bar last night by men who had no chance; the lady next door yelled at them for cooking something that smelled too spicy. I wished I could lean out and ask, shouting across the medley of car horns and rumbly trash collection on the street below us, and their explanation of the enigmatic jokes would be punctuated with wispy, brilliant laughter that floated up to the invisible stars. But instead they pulled the strings on their lamps and shut their curtains, sinking into unconsciousness out of sight as my mom and I went back downstairs. On the way home, we passed by an art gallery with half the lights on, casting the faintest glow on the paintings within. My mother always stopped in front, blinking the sleep from her eyes and sipping TJ’s coffee. She was tired, I could tell--years of rubber gloves and chemical sprays had worn her down. She never fully adjusted to sleeping during the daytime either, the sun always warmed her, even behind thick black curtains and under the cool fan current, and I often woke up for a gulp of water to see her scrolling through her phone, eyes heavy, unable to fall asleep. To read this piece in its entirety, visit our website: orangemedianetwork.com/prism

E R I N D O S E | P R O V O ST’S LITERARY PRIZE

Prism Art and Literary Journal

CHORUS OF YOUR MAKING Content Warning: Death, violence

With even hands I drew, pulled back, and let loose the arrow whose head- dark as starless night and crafted in golden embers of acacia- broke the skin between ribs protecting anxious lungs and a quivering heart. For miles I followed the uneven pattering of hooves on parched and hardened clay, spotted bright with crimson to where she lay, her deep brown eyes accepting and wide. With my lips against her nose her final breath, cool in the Saharan sun, rustled my eyelashes as I pulled the black obsidian from her soft and weathered flank.

Her skin became yours, baked and stretched through ruthless winter heat. Her ribs became your backbone, carved and shaped with a knife crafted from her thick and sturdy skull. Her teeth became your jewelry, gently intertwined with salt-kissed shells and tiny yellow coral, then softly pressed into your neck. Each stroke of your strings, woven with her tightened tendons, sings a song of praise for all she gave for you to live. Each pounding of my palm upon your belly echoes the pumping of her heart, that gave its final beat for us to thank the rain, the sun, the stars, the trees, and earth where you were born. As sisters and brothers bound by curls of smoke rising to the moon, we call her mother in our rhyme. ~~

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

In a different blaze of flames a different song was sung, by tears on scorched earth and screams choked out by fear and pale, unfamiliar hands. I watched through bloody rain as they yanked you from my loving fingers and snapped your precious neck with ease. I felt the twisting of their knives into the stomachs of my people, once filled with pride and gratitude for you, your songs and the sacrifice of all she was for us to make you. I heard our anguish in your broken strings as piece by piece they tore apart and laughed at you, shriveling in a fire of your makers.

The skies and trees and land that birthed us took us home with loving hearts of lead; thunder rumbled out our rhythm, rains poured down and lightning struck with anger our song you sung again in tune. And once more, our voices echoed out the chorus of your making, as wind against the backs of creatures with deep brown eyes, and bodies made to give.

TI A L A T T A N Z I O | P R O V OST’S LITERARY PRIZE

Prism Art and Literary Journal

FALLEN-HERO

Q U I N N B U E R M E Y E R | INK WASH ON PAPER

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

WTF

J U L I A Z E I G L E R | PHOTOGRAPHY

Prism Art and Literary Journal

HOLY SPACE JUICE

(595 word prose, to be spoken aloud) Oh God the sighs of many winters come rolling off my lungs like a huge hit of flower’s smoke A jolting riot of thoughts pass by, through my brain like the thunderstorms of winter And the juice is not the juice I was looking to milk from the udders of space but a concoction of bubbly spew, pouring from the great rift with spittle like an old man’s nipple dribble from too much heroin and use Yet why did I wait to drink it ’til after satiating myself with the wines of winter, and the nipples of frost? For spring comes in falsehood, (says the boss) Another winter lies ahead, space is dead and we would be fooling ourselves, instead to think on it, she says (sauced)

Well maybe I’ll think on it In fact, I will drink on it let it burn inside me with desire, and melt the kingdom The halls of witnesses filled with so much boredom, like so many Traumatic accounts Long past the tunnels of human trafficking and insurmountable doubts winter is surreal now and I feel the power of the juice going down my throat Spring will come she says to me in February but little does she know that around the bend lays dreary the breasts I once knew She is stricken with the bends inside an inter-dimensional slue, slain and torn anew Ready she is, to be born on the knob, in the horn under the suckling yew So I say to you, and we drink to it Drunken spew water draws up wine slides down and all upon the crown of yew Winter melts away and so do you leaving me to me and the slue to the slue give it another dayfor it shall melt away, too... And I fall from the crown of the yew

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

Yet the sighs of many springs renew and my brain remembers the juice from the cup and you I remember Her (my boss) and the thunder, and the yew And I prepare to take care of the deluge that will come when everything is done and all I can do is beg Her for sun and a boat and mountable, steady rope to tie the limbs and chop the dim-witted slopes To my whim and chagrin I grin, all over again, as I soak And I take saddle and horse as relief to town (to cope, of course) At least that is what you will tell the rescue crew while I draw it all in the smoke, and the town, the cattle, and the crown... and I inhale deep, deep down like the coffers of cloisters long gone, like the earth-scented barrels of seasoned, red wine And the underground storage room, tamed and untimed

Rid me of Englentine’s bind you say, chagrined for rich, warm mahogany keeps me from agony in a glorified, sturdy stein (I listen on the yew) There shall be this one more winter before God cries, and pigs will fly - you say before She melts it all away... It will reveal the revel of green, green glory on high in the tempest, at the bay And you will see it, you will know it, though it curls, as I do this day So I carry up my pipe and bowl to my mouth and cry... like a poor, white-washed baby in the inter-dimensional sky And together we sigh, just the boss, you and I For to drink the juice of space is to be born and then to die Oh God

R O B Y N S C H R E I BER | PROSE

Prism Art and Literary Journal

COMING HOME A V A MENCHU | DIGITAL ART

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

FEATURED AUDIO WORK

CORE.RADIO++ SYNIA KHUNPRACHANSRI | DIGITAL MUSIC

WHEN SUMMER ENDS DANE ZURWELL | GUITAR, VOICE, BASS

HOT CHOCOLATE DANE ZURWELL | GUITAR, VOICE, BASS

Prism Art and Literary Journal

SUNSET OVER OREGON HOPE MOUNTS | PHOTOGRAPHY

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

Prism Art and Literary Journal

ARTIST STATEMENTS COVER ARTISTS

around them? In what ways does a person morph into someone else, or alter their actions, because of what others expect of them? Through each of my Shae Nguyen (front) pieces, I strive to bridge the gap between reality Birb Birb is a piece that came about from my fascination and imagination in everyday life. How are people with plague doctors and all the morbidity that came interpreted and analyzed until they represent the to mind when you thought of the word. The work has specific “image” that their society had in mind for a quiet, yet sophisticated aura around it. The circular them? When we look at those around us in our day to day lives, is what we are seeing in people the true lighting I created was to help emphasize the mask version them, or is it merely a faux image that has been and make it the darkest part of the piece. fabricated through the systematic assumptions that we’ve been taught to believe are normal to make? Kevin Coalwell (back) PHANTOM In my drawings and paintings, I’m drawn to the When it comes to visual work, I usually start with a constant movement and change of the human form. mood, and then try to figure out how to make other I view these works as being an “impression” of sorts; people feel that way. a representation of how I interpret an individual at any given time. With this concept of a moment being frozen in time, I enjoy depicting sporadic and “loose” versions of others, in order to show their movement and form in ways in which they may never have been Alexandra Walchli seen before. The Empty Spot This piece is a part of a series of small paintings Angel Black of thoughts, dreams, and memories. Painting Honey; Space Cadet without any pencil or pen allows the paint to work separately from any preconceived image or process, “Honey” is a piece that I think challenges beauty standards. This woman is confident and in her and every painting becomes a unique result of self element, she doesn’t conform. examination. Alex Grejuc Egg Tide Most of my poetry comes to me very sporadically and not often enough. Amanda Sweo For Raisa This was written from a place of acceptance and indifference. Ana Pearse Observe My work is largely inspired by people and their existence in today’s society. What makes a person who they are? How do they present themselves to those

“Space Cadet” is based off of my own emotional state. Her expression is dreamy, her head is literally in the clouds. There is something off about her features, but she is ok despite that. Arden Smith May Queen This piece is an acrylic painting on canvas of my late rat, Chestnut, depicted as she deserves: with her characteristic loving gaze, bathed in sunlight and flowers, and being picked up unceremoniously but with tender care. Ari Knight Arctic Tern…; Sun Voyager These are photographs from a recent trip to Iceland, all taken in 2019.

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

ARTIST STATEMENTS Ashley Villaseñor We Time; Quite Simply…; Like One… These 3 pieces stem from my series of a skeleton and an octopus as lovers. I love drawing skeletons, and putting them in obscure situations. I try to apply my interest in anatomy to my artwork (even though my art is not always anatomically correct) and I love crafting a bizarre concept in my mind and making it exist on paper. Ava Menchu Coming Home Coming Home is based on a photo of my dad and I from around the time when I was first born. I’ve always seen the photo as incredibly calming and wanted to replicate that in my own way and bring about that feeling of peace in this work. Avery Dennis-Pavlich my heart… I made this for the Inktober challenge in 2016. I was trying to stick to a botanical theme, and this was what happened. Bailey Griffice Sunshine This piece was inspired by some of the lore of the tabletop game Vampire the Masquerade and the thought of if vampires were more monstrous.

Cooper Baskins Solo (1); Solo (2) Taking things in one at a time. Dane Zurwell When Summer…; Hot Chocolate While my friends picked up the pen for Inktober, I picked up my guitar for SONGTOBER! Denue Grant New York…; Bomb Cyclone… These photos are from my travels around the US. Symmetry is the common theme with my photos. Capturing scenes then taking them into Photoshop to modify and manipulate the images. Playing with saturations and sharpening parts of the image to bring focus to the details. Emmet Ritter “Sound Waves…” Sound Waves and Static is a series of photographs I took at a show hosted by @corvallisdiy at Suite Zero on November 9th, 2019. The images feature local bands Flexing and Boo the band. Please support these local bands as well as Suite Zero, a local vintage clothing shop that has also served as a diy music space. Thank you to those that were featured in my photography for this submission. This night was one of many enjoyable evenings I’ve spent surrounded by friends and comrades alike, united by a love for live music. The local Corvallis diy music scene hosted by Bitter Half Booking has nurtured a safe space for ecstatic, creative souls. It’s a delicate niche lost in this quarantine that deeply benefited my formative experience with a community I hold near and dear to my heart.

Carlee Wormington Abandoned; I’d give… Art has always been an outlet for me. Whether I’m sad, happy, angry, or confused, creating something always helps me understand myself. Growing up in two separate homes I always felt as if there were two Here is something I wrote inspired by the evening of sides to me but in my art it’s just me. music I enjoyed during this performance: Casey Ward “A Collection…” This is a collection of my works as a DCA/NMC major.

soundwaves and static, sweating between silences as music fills our ears and our heads and our hearts thump-thump-thump, my heart to your hand marking time to music to mimic the sparks.

Prism Art and Literary Journal

ARTIST STATEMENTS Erin Dose environmentalism; Summer “environmentalism” is about the fear and uncertainty we are facing due to an impending climate crisis. Everything is at stake, and this poem specifically focuses on our how our identities change when faced with so much uncertainty.

Heather Hoyt Internal Lightroom After dealing with mental health problems for quite some time, I came up with a metaphor that helped me understand what I had been feeling.

Hope Mounts Sunset Over Oregon “Summer,” above all else, is about love. When in love, I find that time slips away so easily and at times This sunset has a lot more meaning than people would initially recognize. This is the place where I it’s tempting to let everything else go, at least for a decided to pursue my passion of Photography—my little while. safe place. Felin Hazani The Fun Guys; Zombie of… I drew “The Fun Guys” because I thought mushrooms are such FUN GUYS. I drew a lot of mushrooms in this illustration and wanted to add more- but I did not have MUCH ROOM. (illustrated using colored pencils and some touches of markers on a brown pastel paper) This fish might look like a zombie- but it’s a warrior. Beaten up, stuck on a hook, but is still alive. I painted this using watercolor and ink, and added several extra touches here and there digitally. Gabe Reitzes Suspension; Waste… I really like going for stuff that’s visceral and weird, kind of as a way to articulate what is in my head and what is sticking out to me in the world. I try to avoid going too artsy fartsy, but I enjoy stuff that takes a second to unpack or figure out, whether in writing or in photography. Hanna Helft Yellow Hue I created all the pieces I submitted this year and was inspired by different events that have occurred. Hasani Kasthuriarachchi Safe Haven “Safe Haven” is a photograph of my favorite place in my neighborhood. There was this one day that the entire pond was covered in algae so I used my pro version of the Samsung camera and got this picture.

Hunter Keller Divide I work in a variety of mediums, but each piece represents a particular state of being. I often experience elements of polarity or conflict. I’m practicing holding space for those experiences through witnessing beauty in color and pattern. Indica Blue Dirty Dishes; Dirty Dishes part ii Most of my poetry is the product of me processing my relationships, the beginning the middle the end the after... I visualize and articulate these emotions with daily simplicities. I strive for readers to feel that they are in the experience I am detailing. Isabella Johnson Conversation; It’s Raining Sun Most of my pieces are based on observations from my everyday life, the tiny details that pass by nearly forgotten, but always important. Jacob Le Kelsey Hi this is my friend Kelsey. Jada Krening Bridgetown This is a short piece of creative nonfiction, written and inspired by the beauty of city’s bridges and the connections I made growing up in Portland, Oregon.

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

ARTIST STATEMENTS Jaden Bellamy Self Portrait; Citron Summers All of my poems are about me trying to process certain emotions I go through throughout life, from my first love, to first heartbreak, to life and how it can break you to build you back up. My photography is me trying to capture distinct images because I find them interesting. However sometimes I find its hard to find things to photograph, so one day I turned the camera around and came out with “Self Portrait”. Jamie Lanza Don’t Cry All of my digital photography edits start with an idea for a photograph. Taking the perfect picture for an edit is hard because it’s hard to tell at first where your ideas are going to take you. After I figure out which photo I like best, I just let whatever I’m feeling out into the edit and I work and adapt throughout the process. J. Peters Pools This piece is kind of dark... but it expresses feelings of frustration towards my self-created setbacks in love and life. There are so many opportunities presented to us each day, and this poem is about the fear I have that they are all flowing by and I am missing them because I’m so absorbed in my own self-doubt. Johnny Brunac fish bowl blues Some of the pieces I submitted spawned from a poetry class I took last year. I then got into a really bad relationship for around seven months and fell out of touch with writing for awhile until recently so some of them are about moving past that and reflecting on myself. Julia Zeigler WTF All of the pictures I submitted came from a day spent exploring Corvallis, OR. I was inspired by the beauty in the mundane environment.

Kalia Pincock Leo; Pacific City These pieces represent a memory with those that I love and places that I love. I took “Pacific City” while out adventuring with my friends because I saw the scenery and wanted to capture its beauty on camera. Karl McOmber Songbird’s Anthem; Songbird’s… What are the things that came to mind when you first heard the word “college?” Ken Koga sketch of pipes In my work I am exploring the formal qualities of post-internet aesthetics, and engaging with the techniques required to match the sensibilities of digital art. Laurel Brinson-Larrabee Bobby Jones Taken while traveling for ART 399: The Open Road, the photography series I submitted all aims to capture a sense of small-town America. Through stopping at roadside café’s and interacting with the people who live in these towns, I was able to get a sense of the cultures and communities of people who live on the back roads in the USA. Leah Kahn When The Muse Speaks I wrote this poem while out on a walk with my dog. I write a lot of poems this way. I speak the lines into my phone as they come into my head. By the end of a walk I usually have half a poem or more written. When I wrote this poem, I was thinking about how much soul and love I pour into every poem I write, and how sometimes the inspiration comes, and sometimes I can’t write a line for weeks at a time. This poem is a reflection of all of that. Lexi Johnson Nature’s Language; Human Soup Through these words, I hope to give voice to the turmoil that rests within me, to marvel the natural world, and to define my identity in a multifaceted, interconnected web of human experience.

Prism Art and Literary Journal

ARTIST STATEMENTS Lisa Wilson For Willa; On convincing… These are poems about the things I think and write about all the time and hardly ever talk out loud about: spirituality, gayness, forever, all the kinds of beauty. “For Willa” is a small tribute to a line I come back to all the time from Willa Cather’s My Antonia, which I had to read in 10th grade English and only appreciated later.

Nolan Clements improvisation Stream of conscientiousness from the mind of a young soul. Pocket Patino she resigned to chew… Zoom out to 70% and be angry

Quinn Buermeyer fallen-hero “On convincing myself there are other seasons” is I am interested in how art creates an emotional just that, an attempt to see the end of summer as response in people through expression. Specifically, more than a missed chance and a reminder that life I am interested in the study of anatomical figures, and love are more flexible than my timetable. posture, and faces. I want to explore how characters and figures can interact with their surroundings in Mary Rose Holland order to further push how deep you delve into a Self portrait; Hairy… “Hairy Woodpecker on Burned Snag” is meant to be character purely through observing them. To this a simple tribute to the benefits and renewal of forest end, I attempt to push how the iconography and composition can be treated as their own characters, fire on local ecosystems. which further inform a narrative. For any story, especially one with visual elements, it is imperative Mary Wong that all of the information included is furthering Ebola; Viral Portraiture… the narrative whether that be through mood, Ebola is an existential threat. Awareness of and visual language or rending of relevant objects. The containment of this disease are crucial components inclusion or exclusion of these elements must be of eradication efforts. Vaccines are available but purposeful otherwise it will detract from the story supply is limited. The humans taking measures to contain and combat this illness are putting their own you are trying to tell. lives at risk to save mankind. Ridwana Rahman Vaccinate. Be prepared. Be knowledgeable. Fruits in Cairo Infectious Disease does not discriminate. This photograph is from a trip I took to Egypt earlier this year. It was one of the prettiest places I have Megan Tucker ever seen in my life, and the people were some of rotten milk; The feeling… the friendliest. It was easy to make photos I liked Over the course of four years, I’ve matured a lot as there because it was an easy place to photograph. a writer. Until last year I only wrote for class and for work, never branching out on my own. These pieces Robin Weis were some of my first steps exploring writing for Reconstruction writings sake. Some began as a prompt for class and The following statement is my analysis of the expanded into something more, and some were snippets torn out of notebooks as I idly daydreamed. autobiographical ink piece, Reconstruction. Each piece is different, and was written differently, The bottom portion focuses on the process as they were all written at very different points in my of building. I was pursuing my art degree at life but reading through each of them reminds me of Monmouth College in 2015 when I came out as FtM how I felt during those times. transgender. When I initially came out, I was met

with negativity from both the community and my

(Continued...)

2019-2020 : “Displacement”

ARTIST STATEMENTS family. Dejected, I left college and worked a string of jobs to get by. I eventually found my way to Oregon, where I began to build my life. The forms at the bottom are abstractions of a fluid, dripping landscape that a disjointed being climbs. This climb slowly transforms into a representation of the physical changes that my queer body has been through. When beginning testosterone, my body was met with pulsing pains and heat flashes. I symbolize this pain with the incorporation of disjointed muscle forms. The middle and top portion are inspired by the appearance of my surgical binder draped over my easel. The flowing form of the fabric and weaving of the binder’s hooks drape over the perpendicular structure. These linear forms are pierced and segmented to illustrate the continual deconstruction and reconstruction of my being. Transitioning has often felt like the selective killing of my emotional and physical being. Though I am content with who I am and who I am becoming, I feel the need to acknowledge the shedding of my former self. Though this piece mostly addresses my transition, I sought to also incorporate the stresses I face currently. The form that emerges from the top right of the work, is an abstraction of my torso. From my torso, the muscles to the left of the have been replaced with a melting, cancerous abstraction of a skull. These forms bleed into the main structure, showing how my father’s death this year, and mother’s deteriorating health have altered who I am. Below these melting and skeletal forms, I have added the abstraction of a dissected face where only the nose and chin are identifiable. This form represents the feeling of barely keeping myself afloat, and of nearly drowning. Since I initially left college, I have had to fight to find my way back to school. Attached to the nose and located over the lip portion of this face form is a thick, horizontal line. This line extends back into the center of the torso form. This line draws the viewer back toward a bird that emerges from the middle-right portion of the torso. This bird symbolizes both my rebirth and new beginning as a student.

Robyn Schreiber Holy Space Juice Straight from an 80s womb, Robyn Eggs breaks the mold with her abstraction and appreciation for even the littlest of things. Her unique eye captures a different point of view. Take a trip into another dimension, or just peer through the portals, as Robyn Eggs provides a treat for the Third Eye. Sophie Unks Departure; Chrusalis To me, poetry serves to pinpoint purpose in a moment. To give a feeling a color or name or action is to make it eternal, and these are snippets of my attempt at granting my experiences, thoughts, and feelings immortality. Synia Khunprachansri Envy; core.radio++ Everything I do is experimental. Nothing’s going to turn out perfect, so why not play around with my work so that no matter the outcome, it still ends up a fun process. Tessa Coffey Bombs Away; Can I hit… I am inspired by moments from everyday life. I love to create artwork involving women, experimenting with color, fashion and texture. I go into my pieces not quite sure about how I want them to turn out but I play with them until I’m satisfied with the outcome. Tzu-Yi Chang Morning Morning (Acrylic Painting 37cm x37cm canvas) I love to stare at the tiny things while I am walking on the street. It is the flower I saw one day morning. On it, there were some drops and some spider webs, it was still bright and confident. Just like our life, no matter what left, we are standing with our hearts and encourage.

Prism Art and Literary Journal

CAN I HIT YOUR JUUL?

T E S S A C O F F E Y | ACRYLIC PAINT

FOR MORE INFORMATION orangemedianetwork.com/prism/site/submit/

Students of any major are welcome to submit Visual and literary art of any variety is welcome Up to five pieces are accepted