Luminism Revisited by Arica Hilton

ARICA HILTON PAINTINGS & POETRY

LUMINISM

REVISITED 1

Whatever it is that binds a hand to a heart or a soul to a dream, eternally binds a bird to a root, blossoming.... from the foot of a stem to the face of a cloud, infinity has bounds only to infinity. a dream is a dream

only when unfulfilled...

LUMINISM REVISITED

BY ARICA

HILTON

Lake Street Press

4044 N. Lincoln Avenue, #402 Chicago, IL 60618

www.lakestreetpress.com lsp@lakestreetpress.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. Front & Back Cover: Arica Hilton, UNIVERSE, LIFE UNLIMITED, oil on canvas (page 42-43) Reprint of Field Museum photos courtesy of: Marco Nereo Rotelli Art Project, Milan, Italy Chicago Tribune Publisher’s Cataloging - in Publication Data to come

INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATION BY

745 Chaussée de Waterloo 1180 Brussels Belgium info@quart-brussels.com ISBN: 978-1-936181-26-1 Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

PREFACE LUMINISM REVISITED 11 FOREWARD BY PICK KEOBANDITH PhD

INTERVIEW WITH ELYSABETH ALFANO

THE CATALOG: PAINTINGS LIGHT 18 I FLOW LIKE WATER 44 WHERE STARS ARE BORN 58 POETRY COLLABORATIONS WITH MARCO NEREO ROTELLI: LUMINISM IN POETRY 76 INTRODUCTION BY ARICA HILTON 79 ESSAY BY MARCO NEREO ROTELLI 80 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY “WORDS” 83 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY DIVINA “NATURA”

GRAPHICS & MULTIPLES

114

ARICA HILTON BIOGRAPHY

117

worlds. My goal is to express the interconnectedness between human beings and the universe through my poetry and paintings. Specifically, I explore free organic forms through the layering and sensual deployment of color by bringing attention to the rich, spectral underpinnings of the simplicity and richness of the earth and its universal counterparts.”

Studying the landscapes of Turner, I recognized his influence on some of the greatest artists of the 19th century. In North America, artists such as Albert Bierstadt, Martin Johnson Heade, Frederick Edwin Church and John Frederick Kensett, often depicted majestic landscapes and cool waterscapes reflecting nuanced skies. To me, their works reached a spirituality that transcended the notion of a landscape painting.

In his homage to Turner, the Luminist Thomas Moran painted “Fiercely the red sun descending / burned his way along the heavens.” The title was taken from the Longfellow poem “Song of Hiawatha,” a recounting of the heroic exploits of a native American chief. The explosion of colors, the sun, the drama of the scene perfectly depicts the power of the poem. It is one of the most passionate paintings I have ever seen. I have always felt that the spirit of words are what brings forth the vision in our minds, and through these words and images, we can communicate with other human beings.

Luminism was a poetic art movement of the late nineteenth century that was concerned with the study and depiction of the effects of light and atmosphere. It was derived from the Hudson River School which was influenced by European Romanticism. I loved the grandeur of their scenes, yet I knew that I could not nor did I wish to paint in their style. I had one thing in common with the Romantics and their offspring, the Luminists, and that was the need to capture light...from the sun, the stars, the earth. This was an ongoing exploration into how the sun effects the eye. Where do reflections come from and why? How can I apply color to capture a moment in time?

preface luminism revisited

The first time I saw a painting by the British Romantic landscape painter, JMW Turner, I felt a kinship to his work through my poetry. He painted what I aspired to describe in words. His work was the Romantic preface to the Luminists and the Impressionists. His paintings took the free expression of the feeling of the artist as a starting point.

As the German artist Caspar David Friedrich once wrote, “The artist’s feeling is his law.” Poetry and painting, using the symbol of the sun, the grandeur of the sky, earth, water, has inspired artists for millennia. William Wordsworth summed it up by stating, “poetry should be the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” And I believe that painting should be poetry.

My paintings began to chronicle the infinite forms of LIFE in an unlimited universe, from the birth of a star to sunrises and sunsets visible to the human eye, and to more tangible aspects of life on earth such as fire and water. It is to this end I search for the inexhaustible combinations of a visually aesthetic and spiritual language that transcends and unifies

reading Arica Hiltonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

poetry

or discovering her

paintings, the spectator experiences her deep exploration of

beauty that leads us to pure and simple happiness.

From lessons on darkness, she takes us on a journey that calls us to life through mysterious paradises where heaven and earth mingle and we lose the limits of our human spaces. Some of her canvases show blazing skies untouched by storms, reminding us of Turner whom the artist admires, but she is not his disciple. She follows her own interior path with a romantic soul and broad culture. From sunny landscapes, Hilton takes us to expanses of turquoise and grey-blue waters. In these works, she plays at confusing our thoughts and imagination. She composes aquatic canvases where the fluid texture of her paint evokes notes like the peaceful rhythm of incoming waves on a Mediterranean beach, whereas she may be referring to the shores of the Bosporus or crossing a Michigan Lake. We continue our poetic wanderings through spaces offered without explanation and where the inherent sounds of nature are stilled. It is her quest for happiness through lunar-solar landscapes that make us understand that those moments of real pleasure and well-being are fleeting. She separates the azure from darkness and dreams of sparkling stars. In her work, everything is calm and of a quiet strength, just like Hilton herself, a beautiful and graceful woman with a powerful will to explore the intricasies of life.

foreward pick keobandith ph.d

FLUIDE COMME LE BONHEUR PAR ARICA HILTON

Pick Keobandith PhD Directrice Qu Art SA Lisboa, 9 mai 2014 translation from French to English by Louisa Burnett-Hall

interview with elysabeth alfano

EA: Let’s start from the beginning. What was it like to be born in another country and come to America at a young age. How has that shaped the Arica I am speaking to today? AH: I was six years old when my mother brought me to America. She enrolled me in a Catholic school not speaking one word of English. Six months later, the nuns called my mother and told her that her daughter is not so bright. She does not speak! I can’t recall the transition from speaking Turkish, Arabic and French to speaking English. I have very few memories of that time period. I think it was quite a traumatic experience being plunged into a country, a culture, with no bearings, nothing to fall back on. Much of that period has been lying dormant in my mind. So I think I have needed to make new memories, ones that I choose to make. I have never believed that our lives are predestined by the event that happened before or that we do not have the ability to change our circumstances because of one choice or another. I believe in free will, that we can choose our path the way we want to design it. I believe in the power of vision, perhaps that’s why I am an artist. Here is one tiny example. I have been working on a painting on and off for 12 years that is very personal to me. It is called “AUTOBIOGRAPHY.” So I suppose the painting may never really be finished! However, it is something that has been evolving. The painting is a series of vignettes of various stages of my life, from birth to the present. In one vignette, I paint myself in a white dress, very much like a Grecian goddess dress. I envisioned the dress to be satin. Soon after, I was planning our annual Winter Solstice party and really wanted a dress like the one I painted. I walked into a department store that I rarely go to and asked the sales clerk if they had a dress like that. The woman directed me to the area where she said there were only three dresses that were white and only one in my size that was satin. I said okay, let me try it on. It fit perfectly and was exactly the dress in my painting. So to answer your original question, being born in another country has given me a platform from which to spring forth into the world and create the person I am and choose to be. It does not define me, as I feel that our definitions change each breath we take. We think new thoughts and we can become any of the thoughts we choose. But the one thing I do believe is that we have to truly “believe” in the possiblity of those thoughts. Otherwise, we disappoint ourselves. EA: As a self taught artist, how did you come to discover your voice in painting? AH: It began with my poetry, actually. I have always wanted to illuminate my words, illustrate my words, I wanted the words to come to life. I wanted to be able to see the words, in shape, texture, color. I learned to work in many mediums that seem to surface when it is necessary for the life of the painting. At times, the oil seems to flow off the brush. Other times, the oil base turns into a collage with photographs I have taken, or at times, as in my sculptural mobiles, a variety of mediums from mirrors to piano wire to crystals to styrofoam and plastics. These materials come together organically. Almost as if they are telling me, this is where I need to be. EA: Do you paint for you or for the outside collector? How do you see the response from collectors to your work? AH: My paintings begin with a thought, a vision. Sometimes a picture I see in the sky or the water. My process involves channeling my thoughts through my brush, paint or whatever materials serve my purpose onto a canvas or words on a page. Each piece I create is a communication, a language. I can’t speak for other artists, but for me, art is a powerful connection to our inner depths and to another. I think many of the people who collect my paintings want something outside of themselves yet, inside of themselves. Many of my collectors use my paintings as a meditation. It is a conversation that continues from my canvas to the collector’s wall. It is a way of carving your name, maybe your soul, onto something more than just your gravestone. EA: How does being an international artist influence your work?

AH: Perhaps because I have traveled so much, I am able to see not only on a local level, but moreso on a global level. The beauty of the world. The tragedy of the world. Life, death, destruction, human beings killing one another for what, for a piece of this earth, for a belief that their beliefs are more important than your beliefs? It maddens me sometimes to see that in thousands of years, only a small percentage of human beings have evolved into peace seeking individuals. It makes me want to scream at the fate of a great number of women in this world. We still see human slaves in many cultures today. Even in this great country of America, there is the slave trade of young girls and boys being sold like pieces of meat. The same thing was happening before, but with the advances in technology today: television, internet, social media, we are more aware than ever before what is happening in the world at large. And I can tell you, it is not a pretty sight. If one is an empathetic person, it can be quite painful to see the utter madness of the suffering in this world. So if you ask me how does it influence my work, I suppose I want to create something that touches, reaches people into a higher consciousness. I don’t paint my interpretation of beauty because I want to hide from the ugliness and suffering. I paint and write because I want to reach for light, and in doing so, I hope it helps others reach for that which they long for. It is very much like the poem I wrote for the Field Museum light and sound installation using a canto from Dante’s Inferno as the base. The poem was about murder, corruption, deceit and eventual rebirth. Can you surrender to stillness? To light? To sound? Reach for higher ground? Return passion to compassion? Be a rose in remorse? There is a way to swim out of the ninth circle of hell, I tell you. There is a way. And it ends with going into the “womb of healing waters.” Basically, about cleansing and rebirth. I once heard a talk about Hitler. You know when he was a young boy, he wanted to be an artist. He painted hundreds of paintings but was rejected by the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. When he served in WWI at the age of 25, he would take his paints with him to the front line. Imagine how the history of the world would have changed if Hitler been allowed to follow his dream and did not get involved in politics. There is a book called “Finding Your Element” that talks about allowing children to follow their passions and not force them to become something that we, as a society, believe they should do instead of what they love. It is the same throughout the world today. Parents, communities, societies put all sorts of pressure on young people to conform to their belief system. And eventually, that community implodes and then explodes. And here we have the world today. EA: When you wrote the poem, “BRING IN THE FRUIT” for the Field Museum poetry & light installation, what was it like to read to such a large crowd under the stars at the foot of such an important building ? Was this a seminal experience for you? AH: Many years ago a friend gave me a small replica of the Field Museum. Soon after that I moved to downtown Chicago to an apartment with a view of the museum. I had always known that it was an important structure for me. The neoclassical design was inspired by Grecian temples. Temples have long been a fascination for me. When I would travel to Japan, I would seek out the temples in Kyoto. In India, I traveled to Buddhist Monasteries in Ladakh. In Europe, I visited the magnificent Gothic and Romanesque cathedrals. And in Turkey, I loved visiting the mosques. The religion did not matter. What mattered was that it was a sacred space. To me, the Field Museum, housing the history of nature, the evolution of human beings, was such a temple. So when I saw my name illuminated on the facade of the Field Museum, it certainly was a seminal experience for me. I couldn’t really see the crowd when I was

reading. I could only see the magnificent skyline of the Chicago architecture. Marco Nereo Rotelli gave me this fantastic opportunity to be part of a true “illumination.” It had to be one of the most romantic yet dramatic nights. There were tornado warnings earlier in the day and there was a torrential downpour only an hour before the program began. Everyone thought the installation would be cancelled but Marco wanted to continue regardless. And so, as they say, “the show went on.” It was quite amazing. The rain subsided, the stars came out and the museum became a canvas for Marco’s light. Poetry and music poured in place of the rain. What can I tell you? It is one of those scenes that is marked indelibly in my mind. EA: Let’s talk about the world.....religion...human beings....Do you feel your works are of a religious or spiritual nature and what do you hope that the viewer receives from your work? AH: I have said this many times, my works delve into the interconnectedness of human beings with the universe. What I mean is that we should realize we are not just some piece of meat, a physical body that eats, sleeps, tries to procreate. We have a brain that is an instrument for thought, for energy that is transmitted to other human beings, to the outside of our physical bodies and out somewhere into the world, the universe. I attempt to address the various dimensions of time, space, much like a physicist delving into string theory. In quantum physics, String Theory or it’s offspring M-Theory, states that there are numerous dimensions of space/time. If I can tap into any of these dimensions through my work by simplifying the nature of nature, then I may really and truly have accomplished my goal. It is not always possible for me to get there, but when I meditate, which is nothing more than conscious breathing, it helps my mind to reach for that muse to guide me with my creativity. And I don’t need a mind altering drug to get there. Instead, I reach for the history of how we came to be on this earth. My show “WHERE STARS ARE BORN” came from my search for my roots. Again we go back to being born in another country and moving to the United States as a child. I didn’t meet my father until later in my life and wanted to know more about my ancestry. The more I tried to research, the more I found myself going back in my meditations to the womb and farther back to the inception of life itself. When I learned that a nebula is a maternity ward for stars, that all the elements in our bloodstream were the same elements that created a star, I realized that there is so much more to our lives than we can possibly know. To me, that is what God, Allah, Yahweh, Buddha, Krishna, and all the gods and goddesses are about. If more human beings saw themselves relative to a star, there would not be so much violence and destruction in this world. There would be nothing more than awe for the wondrous nature of humanity and how we came to be. EA: Which artists have most influenced your work and why? AH: As for poets, I would say Pablo Neruda, Rumi, Rainer Maria Rilke, Rabindranath Tagore and my ancestor, Muhiddin Ibn Arabi....They write about love in a way that leaves me with a feeling of completeness. When I was a young girl, I read a poem by Neruda that began with the line, “Your breast is enough for my heart and my wings for your freedom.” These lines have stayed with me from the moment I heard them. Although I forget many things, I cannot forget these lines as they have become ingrained in my psyche, as though they have been tattoed into my brain. The 13th century poet/mystic, Rumi wrote a poem called ONE DAY LIKE RAIN. That poem inspired one of my most successful paintings that ended up becoming an entire series. As for artists, I would have to say, JMW Turner because of his perfect expression of light. Leonardo Da Vinci because his brilliance was not only in one area, but in everything. He was an engineer, a mathematician, a physicist, an inventor, a sculptor, a musician, a botanist, a writer AND he was an artist. I am in awe of such brilliance. So many people think that a person can only do one thing in their life to do it well. That may be true for many people. But there are those of us who want to do so many more things. Maybe that’s why I love Leonardo so much. I studied architecture, became an interior designer, I have had galleries more than half my life. I am a poet, an artist, a dancer. People ask me how I can do all these things. My response is, how can I not? All of the things I do unfold when necessary. I have found that life works best when I let it flow rather than force anything. Marco Nereo Rotelli talks about the “Intimo Umano, “ the innermost depths of the human heart. He states that it is something that is private and individual, yet can be shared at

the same time. This is what I strive for. When you create something and it is powerful, you can look at that and say, wow, I did that. You can say to yourself, I lived my life and I accomplished something. EA: Where does love enter into your works, your life? AH: Hmmm….I think my life has been in the constant search for love. It took me a long time to figure out that it is not something one can chase after. All we have to do is go deep within own ourselves and where it resides. But through many loves and losses, I finally came to the conclusion that I have one goal in life and that is to try to live in a state of love. Because for me, that is the true religion. It is not easy to always stay in that place, but I strive for it in every way I possibly can. Through my work, through my relationships. For me, love is paramount in order to be truly happy. And I’m not talking about only romantic love. The ancient Greeks described love in so many different ways, There is Eros, of course, romantic love; Xenia, which is kindness to a guest or a stranger; Philia, which is friendship or family love; Agape which is unconditional love. That is one I have to constantly work on, Agape. You love regardless if you are loved back. It is not always easy, but I have found that if I stay in that place of love no matter what, it never leaves me. It just brings more of the same. One of my favorite quotes is by the writer, James Baldwin, “The role of the artist is exactly the same as the role of the lover. If I love you, I have to make you conscious of the things you don’t see.” EA: Let’s talk about one of your most recent experiences. How did you feel having your painting as the backdrop for actress Nora Dunn’s play, “MYTHICAL PROPORTIONS?” AH: That was powerful. A few months before, I was telling someone that all the great artists had designed artwork for theater productions, from Picasso to Chagall, Jean Cocteau to Erte to David Hockney. I really would love to do a backdrop for a theater play. Soon after, I met actress Nora Dunn, who was preparing for a production of her one woman play, MYTHICAL PROPORTIONS. The play was brilliantly written. At the end, when Nora performs her last line, she turns around and looks up at my painting. The lights slowly dim. My painting is the last thing the audience sees. Nora later told me, “Your painting became a character in my play.” How could I ask for more? EA: What is on the horizon for you and your work? AH: More paintings, more exhibitions. More poetry and I am writing a book about the Spirit of Ecstasy, the TRUE meaning of wealth. It is about having wealth in every aspect of your life. Believe or not, it was inspired by the Rolls Royce hood ornament! And of course, more love! What else is there in life? I go back again to James Baldwin. In “The Creative Process,” he wrote: “The precise role of the artist, then, is to illuminate that darkness, blaze roads through vast forests, so that we will not, in all our doing, lose sight of its purpose, which is, after all, to make the world a more human dwelling place.”

Elysabeth Alfano is an arts and culture journalist, former gallery owner and TV and stage producer and host. She studied art history and fashion at the Sorbonne in Paris and also in Florence. She has been bridging the gap between artists and the public for almost two decades. Best known for being the creator, producer, and host of Fear No Art Chicago on PBS and the live streaming show The Dinner Party on The Chicago Sun Times “Splash” section website, she has also done voice-over work for Kurtis Productions and countless TV interviews. She writes for numerous magazines and newspapers including The Huffington Post. She has also conducted several interviews for NPR, and recently for WGN radio.

liys swiatlo cahaya

lux

licht fény lumiere

ljós

CBET

luce

‫אור‬ éadrom

lumina światło

svetlo

ışık

luz 光

Licht šviesa llum

valo

ánh sáng

φως

light

ljus

light, rumi's inspiration oil on canvas 48 x 48 inches 122 x 122 cm

2010

water/hope oil on canvas 72 x 48 inches 183 x 122 cm 2009

AIR oil on canvas 60 x 36 inches 153 x 91.5 cm

2010

MAKTUB oil on canvas 60 x 36 inches 153 x 91.5 cm 2010

odes to the birds of the night

Today, my odes to the birds of the night are past. A drowsy numbness no longer dulls my sense. The hemlock has honeyed. Harmony stirring in a cup. I feel a skylark in the eyes of your sky Blue reigns through the haze again, The temple strides the fork in the road Asking the will of the way. Oh! I want to feel the arrows of your rays transmuting the air into an aria of winged saints, To feel the brush of your breeze Turning a stone into velvet. I want to live in your Garden full of knowledge most refuse to pick because they are afraid to taste the pomegranate or a seed they fear will grow. Oh yes, I have tasted your fruit And it is fine, Sweet, tender meat, Moist, divine. Breathe your warmth into my breast And I will rise like wheat To meet your fidelity. I will be a willow to passing storms, Real or imaginary, Your whisper, my shield. I will love love as you love love, Delve into the treasury of captured dreams. The sun removes the veil of the moon, You guide my words on a chariot of stars To the nave of your fragrant ripening. Dear God, I will sing odes to Your wings.

the secret sky oil on canvas 48 x 60 inches 122 x 153 cm 5 piece suite 2011

this is how i felt the first time i met you 32

Inside dreams, In this world, Treading life between Radiance and Mystery, A flame bursts into a black hole. A sunstorm of passion, A moonlight of madness Whips the clouds into drunkenness Until they can no longer hold liquid within their threads. They hang heavy like a cheese cloth full, delivering opaque juices into a sizzling storm. You, lapping it up, I, waiting for your waves To etch my perfection.

THIS IS HOW I FELT THE FIRST TIME I MET YOU oil on canvs 30 x 24 inches 76 x 61 cm 2011

BLACK & WHITE III THOUGHTS oil on belgian linen

30 x 24 inches 76.2 x 61 cm 2012

NIGHTFLIGHT Oil on Canvas 96 x 72 inches 244 x 183 cm

2012

BLACK & WHITE II oil on belgian linen 30 x 24 inches 76.2 x 61 cm 2012

BOUNDLESS III Oil on Canvas 30 x 80 inches 76.2 x 203 cm

2013

BOUNDLESS II Oil on Canvas 30 x 72 inches 76.2 x 183 cm

2013

UNIVERSE, life unlimited oil on canvas

72 x 120 inches 173 x 305 cm

like 44

water

ﬂow

water

ﬂow

water

ﬂow like

ﬂow

water I

ﬂow

water

one day like rain

Tender words we spoke to one another are sealed in the secret vaults of heaven. One day like rain, they will fall to earth and grow green all over the world. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Jelaludin Rumi (13th Century)

ONE DAY LIKE RAIN Oil on Canvas 48 x 48 inches 122 x 122 cm

I FLOW LIKE WATER Oil on Canvas 48 x 48 inches 47122 x 122 cm 2012

I FLOW LIKE WATER Oil on Canvas 48 x 48 inches 122 x 122 cm 2012

I FLOW LIKE WATER–RED Oil on Canvas 30 x 30 inches 76.2 x 76.2 cm 2013

I FLOW LIKE WATER–BLUE Oil on Canvas 30 x 30 inches 76.2 x 76.2 cm 2014

stars

where

stars 58

are

where

stars

are

born

stars

are where

born

are

stars born

are where

born

are

born

stars

born 59

hieroGLy hieroGLyPh L Ph Ly

If reduced to a hieroglyph How would someone translate me A thousand years from now? Yes, reduced, like a sauce in a very expensive French restaurant. They might say, “Oui, she is a reduction Of daughter, mother, lover, sister, partner, friend.” “She simmered into them year after year.” Or they might say, “After so much work So much training She hit the target with her arrow. She swam faster than a dolphin. And ran across the finish line… .....Like a star. She became a hero Not because she wanted to be .....She had no choice.” They might ask, “Was her blood, her ﬂesh, bones and muscle, formed by a cloud of dust and gases? Did her strength spring forth in the final days of a massive star’s existence before it ripped itself to pieces …..like a Supernova? “Her light outshines the galaxies She radiates more energy than the sun. And People gather to her. She lifts and guides, sometimes falls.” If someone asks you, where did she come from? Answer them, “She came from the stars. A thousand years from now, That’s where she will be.”

M27 Oil on Canvas 36 x 60 inches 91.5 x 153 cm 2011

swan nebula

A nebula is an interstellar cloud of dust and gases where stars are born. The Swan Nebula (which is also called the Omega Nebula and catalogued as Messier 17 or M17) is a region of star formations located between 5000 to 6000 light-years from Earth in the rich starfields of the Sagittarius constellation region of the Milky Way. It spans some 15 light-years in diameter. All stars began their lives as a nebula. As a star dies it returns its material to the cosmos as another nebula. It is through this release of matter that the universe is provided with all the elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. This includes all the material that forms the Earth and everything on it, including humans. The oxygen we breathe was formed in the hearts of giant stars and the iron in our bloodstream was formed in the final days of a massive starâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s existence before it ripped itself to pieces as a supernova. It is from this that we get the saying that we are all made of stardust....

Swan Nebula Oil on Canvas 60 x 72 inches 153 x 183 cm 2011

ORION oil on canvas 18 x 24 nches 45.72 x 61cm 2012

I, simply walk up the sky, like a star,

waiting to be named

by my discoverer....

infinity has bounds only to infinity oil on canvas 84 x 60 nches 213 x 152.4 cm 2012

a hunter

A hunter with a big net catches stars falling from the Milky Way. He keeps them in a basket full of moons circling love like the seasons, As You, weave the threads of sunrise like a waking wave of kisses, skipping the stones of my heart rippling through my flesh as only the horns of heaven can. You, outlined in fireflies, watch the moon filling fulfilling, strumming the sun into prose. A man flies into an ocean, feet first, his wings melt into fins, neck stretching skyward, like a swanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, in truth, certainly, most veritable as above, as below. I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t decide if the Emerald Tablet is his ticket to transformation, or just the whim of a mythic man who discovered his reflection in Orion. I, simply walk up the sky like a star, Waiting to be named by my discoverer.

NGC3603 Oil on Canvas 60 x 48 inches 153 x 122 cm 2012

spirit of ecStasy oil on canvas 60 x 48 inches 153 x 122 cm 2011

spirit of ecStasy, The Man - Icarus oil on canvas 60 x 48 inches 153 x 122 cm 2011

BOUNDLESS IV oil on canvas 48 x 78 inches 122 x 198 cm 2014

LUMINISM in POETRY

DIVINANATURA

My introduction to artist Marco Nereo Rotelli began with a poem I wrote on a mirror, the last line of which read, “A dream is a dream, only when unfulfilled.” As the artist in residence at Northwestern University, he was transforming the stone walls of the Charles Deering Library into pages of living poetry. Marco invited me to participate by writing a poem and curating the poets for the installation. The theme was, “Saving Trees.” The seed of friendship was planted. I was excited and honored to participate in a project with an artist (and architect) of Marco’s stature. He was one of the foremost contemporary artists working with light and had realized major installations around the world in major cities such as Paris, Rome, Naples, Beijing and London. He is best known for illuminating monumental buildings such as the Musée du Petit Palais, The Arc de Triomphe, the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela, The Beijing Olympics and has participated in numerous editions of the Venice Biennale. The installation at Northwestern was only the prelude to a monumental project Marco was planning the following summer at the Field Museum of Natural History. He was to transform the exterior of the museum into an enormous illuminated manuscript inspired by the universe of Dante Alighieri’s 14th-century epic poem, “DIVINA COMMEDIA.” Once again, he asked me to collaborate and curate a multi-cultural, multi-national group of poets for an ephemeral installation of light and sound. The issues Dante addressed nearly 800 years ago were the same we face today: politics, love, war, and how our choices to live our lives can guide us through and beyond the ninth circle of Hell. Using the various cantos Marco recommended as a guide, I realized we had to address the human spirit in such a way that touched upon the psyche, with an alchemy of memory, light, sound, tears and fears in concert with the theme of Inferno. DIVINA NATURA conveyed the connection between past and present as the poets exhibited the bounty of their life experience and solidarity with one another through Dante’s works. We ended up with a collage of Arabic, Greek, French, Hebrew, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish, and of course, Italian! From the most profound love poems, to the poetry of pain, suffering, limbo and loss, each poet navigated his or her way through Inferno. Marco selected Canto 33 for me, a dark story about corruption, greed, murder and betrayal, offering a challenge and a gift to explore the inner workings of how the mind can find a way out of the prison we create for ourselves. “Reach into the womb of healing waters, and sleep….sleep…Until a pulse returns…And a cry announces life.” I am indebted to such poetic luminaries as Ana Castillo, Giuseppe Conte, Osama Esber, Reginald Gibbons, Parneshia Jones, Elise Paschen, Ed Roberson, Lia Siomou, Rachel Webster, Chana Zelig and former poet laureate of the United States, Robert Pinsky. And with deepest gratitude to Thomas Haskell Simpson for his perfect recital of Canto 13, where Dante explained to the Duke of Verona that a “commedia” is a work representing a story with a happy ending. In a recent interview, Marco eloquently stated, “The mind of every man, every poet, is looking toward heaven.” Divina Natura was just that. A heavenly work of art that will live on in the annals of Chicago history. Grazie Mille a Marco Nereo Rotelli!

MARCONEREOROTELLI

the magic alchemy of arica hilton Painting, poetry, the epic quality within the everyday, all these things are present in your life. Perceived through gestures, steps, breaths. Recognized in the long and harmonious color compositions that open skies and vast sea horizons to view. Heard listening to your words, perceived from the first breath, they are tied to language each day, and established in your artistry. Can we separate the internal pressure that leads Arica Hilton to poetry from the external expression of painting? I think they’re part of the same movement, just as in life, we breathe in and then exhale: Arica gathers a candid shadow within poetry where the most intense messages pass, while she provides light to painting, sharing her vivid vision of a pure life. If there’s a theme that appears clearly in her painterly studies it is that of purity. Her painting subjects are simple. Landscapes of seas and skies. But didn’t the philosopher Thales lie for hours on the earth admiring the sky and seeking truth in it? It’s still true that painting seeks an expression of the unconscious within the sea’s constant movement. From a formal point of view, her painting lies between realism and Arte Informale. Couldn’t we say that life itself is like this? Again, from a formal point of view, her painting is an interior response to our era of globalization. Arica provides us a quiet rest stop and reminds us that the sublime exists in all things. It’s within thought’s grace that it becomes poetry. It’s within the capacity of writing poetry as a response to negativity, and within the possibility of transforming energy into writing or painting. These may seem like secondary arguments, but when one artist looks at another artist they seek the alchemy of this transformation, and the magic alchemy of Arica Hilton can appear clearly to everyone.

Marco Nereo Rotelli Milano 12 May 2014 Italian translation by Natalia Nebel

charles deEring library, northwestern university illuminatED by marco nereo rotelli january 2013

WORDS LIGHT INSTALLATION

MARCO NEREO ROTELLI CHARLES DEERING LIBRARY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY poetry curated by ARICA HILTON

POETS Ana Castillo, Reginald Gibbons, Arica Hilton, Parneshia Jones, Elise Paschen, Ed Roberson, Jennifer Scappetone, Rachel Webster

TITLE from â&#x20AC;&#x153;i heard an oak treeâ&#x20AC;? by arica hilton illumination by marco nereo rotelli charles deEring library, northwestern university january 2013

i heard an oak tree

And it was in a garden I heard that sound, A deep groan, like a bass note searching for the root. I heard a collision, like hands pushing aside dirt, clearing a path for light to pour into the center of the earth. I heard a chord echoing rumours of sunsets kissing a canopy of trees And strains of rain streaming life into your limbs. I heard the Knowing that we belong to Sameness To earth, to sun, to stars, to mountains, oceans, trees…. Elements forming you, forming me. With the window open (the way you like to sleep) I heard an oak tree lamenting in the breeze, “I was here before you, rooted, like you, reaching, like you.”

ARICA HILTON READING "I HEARD AN OAK TREE" CHARLES DEERING LIBRARY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY JANUARY 2013 87

line from â&#x20AC;&#x153;i heard an oak treeâ&#x20AC;? illumination by marco nereo rotelli charles deEring library, northwestern university january 2013

CHARLES DEERING LIBRARY (interior) NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

POETS: ELISE PASCHEN, ANA CASTILLO, ED ROBERSON ARICA HILTON, PARNESHIA JONES, RACHEL WEBSTER

DIVINA NATURA FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY SOUND & LIGHT INSTALLATION

MARCO NEREO ROTELLI installation curated by KATE ZELLER poetry curated by ARICA HILTON

POETS Ana Castillo, Giuseppe Conte, Osama Esber, Reginald Gibbons, Arica Hilton, Elise Paschen, Robert Pinsky, Lia Siomou, Chana Zelig special reading: Thomas Haskell Simpson soprano: Karolina Dvorakova music: Thomas Masters/Adrian Leverkuhn

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bring in the fruit

I have seen the innermost valleys, Falcons confined to darkness, Fate which cuts the thread of life, signaling “It’s time to bring in the fruit” in that treacherous Tower of Hunger. Like water taking the shape of its captor My eyes tasted a grief so profound there was no outlet for tears or fears. I have seen those who journeyed past repentance, stood on a cliff swaying regret...or inspiration. Which is it, I ask you? A step up? or back down into the refuse covered selfishness of domination? Is it easier to climb a holy rock or chase a holy grail? Is it easier to be grateful for the fall? Or to writhe in misery because the climb is too difficult if one can only crawl? Fatigue crawls down the river. Ambition kneels in surrender to forces of dubious motives. The crystal sky reveals itself inane, illusion, Repentant, Spent in Lost directions. Say farewell to damage! Leave it on that runway of forgotten cities where time left imprints on seedless sands. Who will remember? Or will they Because their defeat May be yours? Stand naked before ruin Your body covered in welts too buried in confusion. When all the doors are closed Does God really open a window?

What lies on the other side? Is it a valley of green terraces flowing into a stream of Reason or Truth? You step into a river. Rocks surrender their edge into your feet. Crimson ribbons wrap realization about your ankles. Marred, branded, Branded with indignity, Your breath trickles in whispers, taciturn tears In the shape of a note, staccato, forlorn, a denouement of battle, lost to the forces of darkness. Can you hear the music of regret wading down the ravine of addiction to ego to greed? Can you surrender to stillness? To light? To sound? Reach for higher ground? Return passion to compassion? Be a rose in remorse? There is a way to swim out of the ninth circle of hell, I tell you. There is a way. Go back… back to the river a second time…. all the way back. And reach… reach… reach into the womb of healing waters, and sleep….. Sleep.... Until a pulse returns And a cry announces life.

ARICA HILTON READING “BRING IN THE FRUIT” ON THE NORTH FACADE OF THE FIELD MUSUEM, 24 JUNE 2013

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DESIRE painting by Rebecca Hardin and Arica Hilton Poem written by Arica Hilton Acrylic on Canvas 24 x 48 inches 61 x 122 cm 1995

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I WANT TO LAY MY MIND ON A BED OF SILENCE Acrylic on Canvas 30 x 24 inches 61 x 76.2 cm 1997

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Limited Edition Graphics

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GRAPHIC EDITIONS and MULTIPLES

WATER/HOPE 2010

FIRE/WATERLILIES 2011

limited edition graphic on German Hahnemühle

etching paper with deckled edge

edition size: 25

deluxe edition on canvas, hand painted

edition size: 15

5 artist proofs

size: 36 x 24 inches (91.5 x 61 cm)

*limited edition graphic on aluminum, edition size: 3

size: 60x 40 inches (153 x 101.6 cm)

MAKTUB 2010 limited edition graphic on German Hahnemühle etching paper with deckled edge edition size: 25 size: 36 x 24 inches (91.5 x 61 cm)

AIR 2011 limited edition graphic on German Hahnemühle etching paper with deckled edge edition size: 25 size: 36 x 24 inches (91.5 x 61 cm) deluxe edition on canvas, hand painted

deluxe edition on canvas, hand painted edition size: 15 5 artist proofs size: 36 x 24 inches (91.5 x 61 cm)

edition size: 15 5 artist proofs size: 36 x 24 inches (91.5 x 61 cm) *monoprint on silk, edition size: 1 size: 36 x 24 inches (91.5 x 61 cm)

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SWAN NEBULA 2011

LIBERTAD 2010

limited edition graphic on German Hahnemühle

limited edition graphic on German Hahnemuhle

etching paper with deckled edge

edition size: 25

size: 30 x 36 inches (76.2 x 91.5 cm)

size: 28 x 32 inches (71.1 x 81.3 cm)

deluxe edition on canvas, hand painted edition size: 15

5 artist proofs

size: 30 x 36 inches (76.2 x 91.5 cm)

size: 28 x 32 inches (71.1 x 81.3 cm)

ONE DAY LIKE RAIN 2013

I FLOW LIKE WATER-RED 2013

limited edition graphic on German Hahnem端hle

etching paper with deckled edge

edition size: 25

size: 24 x 24 inches (61 x 61 cm)

deluxe edition on canvas, hand painted

edition size: 15

5 artist proofs

size: 24 x 24 inches (61 x 61 cm)

NIGHTFLIGHT 2013

UNIVERSE, LIFE UNLIMITED 2013

limited edition graphic on German Hahnemuhle

limited edition graphic,

etching paper with deckled edge

hand painted on canvas

edition size: 25

size: 40 x 30 inches (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

5 artist proofs, 5 actress proofs 3 sizes:

deluxe edition on canvas, hand painted edition size: 15

16 x 28 inches (40.6 x 71.1 cm) 24 x 40 (61 x 101.6 cm)

5 artist proofs

30 x 60 inches (76.2 x 153 cm)

size: 40 x 30 inches (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

I FLOW LIKE WATER-BLUE 2014

THIS IS HOW I FELT THE FIRST TIME I MET YOU 2014

limited edition graphic on German Hahnem端hle

etching paper with deckled edge

edition size: 25

size: 24 x 24 inches (61 x 61 cm)

size: 25 x 20 inches (63.5 x 50.8 cm)

deluxe edition on canvas, hand painted edition size: 15

deluxe edition on canvas, hand painted

5 artist proofs size: 24 x 24 inches (61 x 61 cm)

edition size: 15 5 artist proofs size: 25 x 20 inches (63.5 x 50.8 cm)

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ARICAHILTON

“If you are a poet you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating on this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. If we look even more deeply, we can see the sunshine, the logger who cut the tree, the wheat that became his bread, and the logger’s father and mother. Without all these things, this sheet of paper cannot exist. In fact, we cannot point to one thing that is not here–time, space, the earth, the rain, the minerals in the soil, the sunshine, the cloud, the river, the heat, the mind. Everything co-exists with this sheet of paper. So we can say the cloud and the paper “inter-are.” We cannot just be by ourselves alone; we have to inter-be with every other thing.” –From “The Heart of Understanding”by Thich Nhat Hanh

Arica Hilton was born on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. As a young girl, she studied architecture and design and has worked as a gallerist, interior designer, poet and artist since 1985. Whether it is visual art through paintings or the poetic expressions of language and music, every aspect of Arica’s life is geared towards one form of art melding into another. Her collaborations include working with Italian artist, Marco Nereo Rotelli in sound and light installations at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL and the FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY in Chicago. Hilton not only curated the poets and poetry, but also wrote the finale poem “Bring In the Fruit” for DIVINA NATURA, FIELD OF LIGHT inspired by Dante Alighieri’s INFERNO. Hilton also created a monumental painting for actress Nora Dunn’s one woman play, MYTHICAL PROPORTIONS, at Theater Wit in Chicago. Her ten foot painting, UNIVERSE, LIFE UNLIMITED, became, as Ms. Dunn stated, “a character in my play.” Hilton lives and works in Chicago and Naples, FL. Until recently, she was the president of the board of the Poetry Center of Chicago and was voted one of the LIT 50: Who Really Books in Chicago 2011 by New City. Her works have been seen in Fine Art Magazine, Michigan Avenue Magazine, Huffington Post, Astronomy Magazine, Art World News, The Examiner, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times. Her works are in collections throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.

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WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO: PICK KEOBANDITH (my agent) MARY OSBORNE (my publisher) GAIL MANCUSO for giving her valuable time to photograph my paintings and give her aesthetic advice ELIZABETH TORNABENE (who helped design my book) MARINA NADAREYSHVILI for her friendship and support ROBERT POLITO for kindly and gently helping to edit my poems ELYSABETH ALFANO (journalist, tv and stage producer and host) JOHN WELWYN CLARK MARCO NEREO ROTELLI & ELENA LOMBARDI ITALIAN INSTITUTE OF CULTURE SILVIO MARCHETTI ERCOLE BOTTO, REDA CAROL FOX & ASSOCIATES SARAH GARVEY TAMMY KOHL NORA DUNN

AND TO MY INSPIRERS JMW TURNER LEONARDO DA VINCI JELALUDIN RUMI PABLO NERUDA RAINER MARIA RILKE my ancestor MUHIDDIN IBN ARABI, poet, philosopher, scholar and spiritual mystic TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF MY COLLECTORS AND SUPPORTERS OVER THE YEARS and to SVEN ASMUS without whom none of this would be possible......

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