After R. C. Gorman’s “Woman and Vase”

AFTER R. C. GORMAN’S WOMAN AND VASE, 1984, SERIGRAPH

If This jar is a receptacle of her life, its open mouth hungry for what she will provide, its outer shell a decorated celebration of what could be—what could be? Luck and love may adorn her, too. She may fit perfectly in a role of carnation or rose. She may slide inside and multiply, transform from singular to bouquet. If The dark, starless sky delivers its promise of sunrise, a time ripe for fire and filling morning’s body with new food, a new day, she may begin to open her scarlet blanket, like petals ready for sun. Or she could become a roadrunner, take flight and watch from afar, afraid that her jar might break into a thousand little lives.

Brenda Nicholas