Author Archives: Anastasia Martinova

Blurb #4: American Folk Art Museum

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There’s nothing like a huge hanging quilt to make you feel at home in a bustling city, right? Well, maybe not and understandably so. However, if you’re into quilting, handiwork, and folk art, it might be worthwhile to check out the American Folk Art Museum’s exhibit “Super Stars”, which runs from November 16 to September of next year. It is called that because the main motif in every quilt is the star, which is a symbol for hope, light, and perhaps warmth and comfort. The quilts are grand in scale and intricate in their execution, and within every stitch lies a part of their creators’ souls, making the quilts shine and come alive.

Blurb #3: The Inside Out Project

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Huge faces smile, grimace, and glare at you as you walk by St. Mark’s place. Plastered on anywhere from wooden blue scaffolding to barren concrete walls around the East Village, these magnified portraits serve to intrigue and perplex the viewer. These are not the recognizable visages of celebrities and political figures, but the faces of “average” men and women. The photos are all part of the growing Inside Out Project, “a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work” (insideoutproject.net). People from all around the world are encouraged to upload their personal portraits on the project’s website. They would then receive a poster of their image, and have the choice of posting it wherever they want for the world to see and admire. From what I saw in St. Marks and from the online gallery, none of the photos are particularly provocative, as modern art is often stereotyped to be, but more evocative and mysterious. Who are these people really, and what can we learn from their smiles, grimaces, and glares?

Source: http://www.insideoutproject.net/

My Month in Haikus: Anastasia Martinova

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Silent

The warm breeze guides me

Through my silent walk back home.

I keep my eyes closed.

 

Alternate Reality

A good movie can

Transport you for days on end.

The plot has thickened.

 

Laziness

A beautiful day

I didn’t experience…

Laziness triumphed.

 

 

Awaken!

A simple moment

Of quiet contemplation

Reawakens me.

 

Open Your Eyes

It is frustrating

To see people rush without

A care or a glimpse.

 

Perfection (#1)

Emotions run wild

As I’m flying through the air

Perfecting my leap

 

 

 

Dancing Forms

Strong but elegant

Forms soar and fill the space with

Mystery and life.

 

A Lively Day at Work

The steady whirring

Of old machines fills the space.

I just want to sleep.

 

Eye Appointment

Reading tiny text

My eyes feel vulnerable.

The checkup scares me.

 

 

 

Human Canvas

I cover my face

I know that I’m becoming

A human canvas

 

Regretfully Awake

I sink in slowly

into the night’s tempting grip.

…I am still awake

 

Claustrophobia?

Overlapping sounds

Fill the station at rush hour

I feel so confined.

 

 

 

Meaningless Frustration

The train crawls into the station

Slowly, spitefully

Our frustration means nothing.

 

Argue!

You force a laugh

and agree with me?!

Passiveness kills.

 

 

Pointless

 Patience and Scotch tape

Can’t mend a malfunctioning

Piece of…equipment.

 

 

Scandals

 Do you remember

The scandals you blamed me for?

There are more to come.

 

 

 

Perfection (#2)

 Shield your eyes and

throw aside the glossy pages.

I see no perfection.

 

 

Packaging

 Pretty packaging

And false promises.

I won’t be manipulated.

 

 

Search

 Roaming around

Desperate for inspiration.

Reluctant to let go.

 

 

Transient

 Fluid, layered, fleeting…

An attempt at a

Transient masterpiece.

 

Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”: “discovered” by me

 “You think I’m pretty

without any makeup on.

You think I’m funny…”

(notice the traditional 5-7-5 format)

 

 

Snow?!

 A dreadful surprise

Lurking behind the walls.

Snow is approaching?!

 

 

 

A Morbid Symphony

 Branches breaking

Adding to the beat of the blizzard.

A morbid symphony

 

 

Yesterday

 Clear skies, open windows

bouncing light, animated faces.

No remnants of yesterday

 

 

Too Old?

 Craned head and bent knees

Wobbling with embarrassment

“Trick or treat.”

 

Sidewalk

 Trashed and deserted,

stained with

Crushed egg remains.

Feature Story: “A Modern Take on a Forgotten Memory “

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There is something unsettling about a space filled with paintings of decorative deer heads and dismantled rabbit carcasses.

Although these were not the only subjects present in Karen Heagle’s solo show at the I-20 Gallery entitled “Let Nature Take its Course and Hope It Passes”, the theme of death and its inevitability was certainly prevalent. The show consisted of nine mostly large paintings relating to the themes of human impact on nature, the preservation of time, and the extent of vanity, which in this case was a tool used to capture and keep a moment. Filled with colorful, occasionally luminous, and always symbolic paintings, the space transported the viewer to a time that was both familiar and forgotten. Continue reading →

Anastasia’a Weeks in Haikus (10/06-10/20)

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The warm breeze guides me

Through my silent walk back home.

I keep my eyes closed.

 

A good movie can

Transport you for days on end.

The plot has thickened.

 

A beautiful day

I didn’t experience…

Laziness triumphed.

 

A simple moment

Of quiet contemplation

Reawakens me.

 

It is frustrating

To see people rush without

A care or a glimpse.

 

Emotions run wild

As I’m flying through the air

Perfecting my leap

 

Strong but elegant

Forms soar and fill the space with

Mystery and life.

 

The steady whirring

Of old machines fills the space.

I just want to sleep.

 

Reading tiny text

My eyes feel vulnerable.

The checkup scares me.

 

I cover my face

I know that I’m becoming

A human canvas

 

I sink in slowly

into the night’s tempting grip.

…I am still awake

 

Overlapping sounds

Fill the station at rush hour

I feel so confined.

 

The train crawls into the station

Slowly, spitefully

Our frustration means nothing.

 

You force a laugh

and agree with me?!

Passiveness kills.