"It Takes the Atom and the Star"

About this artwork

This monoprint is inspired by a poem by WH Auden called "The Hidden Law," a law which “takes the atom and the star/and human beings as they are/ and answers nothing when we lie.” This is a poem I feel speaks to the artist especially--that if one has lied to oneself as an artist, or if you have put lies into your work, there is a hidden law will deprive it of value. The universe will simply not respond to the lies-- one’s creative work will come to nothing. So I have reminded myself of the importance of being true to one’s vision by writing part of the poem as a kind of frame, and writing the major message of the poem within the body of the picture.