Upon Reflection

Prev|NextFullscreen

• 1

left

right

Upon Reflection (Parking Lot)
Bliss was it that dawn to be alive, but to be young was heaven, 1982-­2014

Projection, graphite, charcoal, c-print
Edition of 15
20 x 43.5 in.

Upon Reflection (Steps)
Tonight, forth ripple messages in code, 1981-2014

Projection, graphite, charcoal, c-print
Edition of 15
22 x 36 in.

Upon Reflection (Life)
Fraternitas Misericordia in pace prima del diluvio /
At Peace Before the Deluge, 1964-2015

Edition of 15
Triptych of 43 x 100 in.

Upon Reflection (Life)
Fraternitas Misericordia in pace prima del diluvio /
At Peace Before the Deluge, 1964-2015

Triptych. Edition of 15
100 x 132 in.

Upon Reflection (Standing)
Another angel in the city of night, 1982-2014

Projection, graphite, charcoal, c-print
Edition of 15
36 x 24 in.

Upon Reflection (Back Bar)
We celebrated the darkness as though the darkness did not exist, 1986-2014

Projection, graphite, charcoal, c-print
Edition of 15
21 x 30 in.

Upon Reflection (Unknown Stranger)
My wandering pagan god, 1986-2014

36 x 43.5 in.

Dead Center

Upon reflection, as I dip my pen
Tonight, forth ripple messages in code.
In Now’s black waters burn the stars of Then.

Seen from the embankment, marble men
Sleep upside down, bat-wise, the sleep bestowed
Upon reflection. As I dip my pen

Thinking how others, deeper into Zen,
Blew on immediacy until it glowed,
In Now’s black waters burn the stars of Then.

Or else I’m back at Grandmother’s. I’m ten,
Dust hides my parents’ roadster from the road
Which dips— into reflection, with my pen.

Breath after breath, harsh O’s of oxygen—
Never deciphered, what do they forebode?
In Now’s black waters burn the stars. Ah then

Leap, Memory, supreme equestrienne,
Through hoops of fire, circuits you overload!
Beyond reflection, as I dip my pen
In Now’s black waters burn the stars of Then.

– James Merrill (1926-1995)