“The Capacity for
delight is the gift of paying attention.”- Julia Margaret Cameron
Mrs. MacKenzie’s poetry is an exquisite dance
of words on the crevices of both pain and joy. She grew up on a farm in Canada, where her surroundings inspired her to see the beauty in everything.
It is not easy to summon up a common thread to
all these poems.
A number of poems at the beginning reflect on
the inquisitive nature of the art; the last few poems of the collection seem to
harmonize with the first section, for the poet conjures up questions that
lack answers.
A
section is dedicated to the impact of Covid-19, and another one deals with a
lyrical exploration of emotions. Her words carve a gentle trail into the soul of the
reader.
There
is an array of her poems that meditates on the power of specific masterpieces
by Matisse, Vermeer and other artists. The images of the paintings are
included, so one gets to “see” the poems through her words.
The musical rhythm of her verses along with
the ingenuous quirks embedded in some of her poems assemble to create a unique
style of expression. I think the magic of her poetry is also revealed in the
variety of themes and elements she offers.
I find the author intriguing. I have added one
of her novels to my reading list: Freefall: A Divine Comedy.
Lily Iona Mackenzie’s literary works have
appeared in more than 160 literary magazines, and she teaches literature and creative
writing at the University of San Francisco, California.
This lady's enigmatic gaze has captivated the attention of various generations of people. Mrs. Mackenzie traces the energy of this intriguing painting by Johannes Vermeer in one of her poems. I will share a fragment of it:
“It’s the
contrasts
that make
her enigmatic.
Her lips
hover on the verge of sensuality,
her
expression
chaste as
well as inviting,
pale skin
lit from
within.
A force of
nature, she can’t be contained
for long in
that frame, watching
the world
pass her by.”
One could say that Mrs. Mackenzie’s poetry
celebrates the power of art, so I expected Mrs. Mackenzie would transcend the
boundary of focusing on the female artistic muse and include the artworks of women
artists as well. My curiosity propelled me to search for them in her collection, but I was sad and
disappointed to see that no poem was dedicated to the masterpieces of women
artists.
Women artists have worked as hard as men to create their masterpieces. If
we celebrate art, shouldn’t we celebrate the art of women artists as well?
Unfortunately, biases against women artists
continue to be alive and well.
According to a website from Yale University, research has shown that women’s art appears less frequently than men’s art at auctions and galleries. A study of Yale Art School graduates over 120 years
suggests that institutions pose bigger obstacles than market participants. If
you attend art auctions or wander through an art gallery or museum, you will
find that the majority of artworks is likely to be by men.
One study found that men’s work made up 96
percent of art sold at auctions around the world from 2000 to 2017. This may be due to the biases of buyers,
curators or museum managers against women’s works. Institutional barriers may
play a role too.
Women’s names are still less likely to be
mentioned in books,
so there is less awareness on their works. Therefore, curators need to work
harder to support women that are not in the spotlight. The biases against women
artists have been well documented, and I am sharing a few links at the bottom
of this post to help you learn about this important issue.
California
Dreaming was published by Shanti Arts Press.
I received a copy of the book from the author
in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you
for visiting My Writing Life blog, a space of awareness, reflection, inspiration.
Till next month.
Supplementary
reading material:
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/gender-discrimination-art-study-2171375
https://nmwa.org/support/advocacy/get-facts/
https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/is-the-art-market-fair-to-women
