Friday, April 6, 2018

Thought Provokers


Self Portrait in D Minor




















 ‘Adjustments’
‘Fine tuning’
‘Regeneration’
Call it whatever instead...

I DON’T WANT
I DON’T LIKE
Not a pin in sight
Hurts HURTS in my head

Forgive me, my sins
Universe took hold
Unilateral or so I’m told
It’s a bold hold, always too damn BOLD

Reset
Redefine 
Relax
Redo and undo

Therefore: Today I am SOLD 
Sold to the delights
Taken by the crows
Flung into the throes...where

Magnificent dimensions
will sometimes be shown
   brought forward and possibly
forth to the fold

Blue, ever as blue
and quietly retold
Feels too familiar
not unlike déjà vu

Already 
seen 
no 
prophecy here

But alas dear 
  It’s all true
  and overdue, 
  way way o’due

Bringing it back
Like a solid gold hit

Soon will be over 
I hope - *hit *hit *$*hit!
takes too long
   most times, almost all

Perhaps this time
it’s the unseen
the road, the fork and the path - presque vu 
maybe it’s time, quicker it seems

Perhaps
   or not
   not what?
She said

And then she sang 
   loud and sound
   some more 
   of her most famous Blues 🎵

© Bronwyn Boniface 2018


Bronwyn is in a women writers' group I'm mentoring – a spin-off sub-group of Village of Women (VOW) in which women who have been through trauma meet to support and empower each other. The women in the writers' group are telling their stories as well, of what they have overcome and how the group has helped them do that.

Bronwyn, who has Asperger's, was misdiagnosed for many years, which resulted in physical illness too. Now that she has a better understanding of herself and her needs, and they are being addressed, her true brilliance is shining forth more and more. 


As you can see from the artwork accompanying this poem (they were composed to go together) she is a talented artist too. In fact she is multi-faceted. As she tells it, her creative work "includes graphic design, photo media, illustration; and started with murals, set design and production, community services, art for therapy, coordination for events and film festivals." At present she is particularly focused on digital art and photography.


She describes herself as "a diverse conceptual visual artist with an interest in all things creative" and says that her new-found understanding of life on the Spectrum is redefining her practice, "where creativity is an internal aesthetic that is inclusive, considered and intuitive." She adds that she "regards process as integral and often includes words and poetry, moving frequently from light to dark, using multiple tones and movements." Her aim is "to create visual art that reaches out and taps someone on the shoulder, causes their hair to stand on end, sends shivers up their spine, or makes them feel, see, believe and question."



She has had a lifetime interest in art and culture, psychology, sociology and volunteering, and is passionate about contributing to, supporting and fostering the arts.Bronwyn studied at St George College of Fine Art and The College of Fine Arts, UNSW. She has published illustrations and design, participated in auctions and fundraising, exhibited in the Border Art Prize 2016 (she lives on the border of NSW and QLD, Australia) and is currently a volunteer and Friend for The Tweed Regional Art Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre; Bilambil Public School; and now a member of The Pottsville Community Centre, Village of Women and Writers' Group.  

She has only recently added "wordsmith" to her array of skills. The perceptive woman who founded Village of Women urged Bronwyn to attend the sub-group, Vow Writers. She turned up, unconvinced, explaining that although she did sometimes accompany her visual artworks with words, she didn't really see herself as a writer. Then, through participation in the group, the words came pouring forth in stream-of-consciousness poetry, white-hot, blowing us all away with their passion and intensity. They do get tweaked and crafted later, but that first outpouring is where the energy lies.

I asked her about the genesis of the work you see here. She responded:

Poem came about 5 Jan 2018. I had urge to purge and let creativity flow. HAD to draw, like I'd be truly bothered or missing something if I didn't scratch the itch. So did digital drawing; probably came from exploring / accepting my autism and ADHD. Then a rush of words came next. Not much revision, it just comes out as a poem. Like the words are already there just needing to be said out loud. It's quite a strange experience for me. 

This style is almost always self portraiture: my core style illustration, dark vs light, internal vs external, 

This one in particular tapped into my journey, my song, so hair morphed a day or two later into piano keys. There is always distortion, plays on perspective, line, distance, energy, light dark, grey scales and spectrums. Usually a feeling of chaos, but that's my normal now. 

Her work can be seen on Instagram, her artist page on facebook, and her website.




Material shared in “Thought Provokers’ is presented for study and review. Poems, photos and other writings remain the property of the copyright owners, usually their authors. In this case, poem, illustration and photo are © Bronwyn Boniface 2018.




12 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Even better now that I've fixed the formatting! (Grin.)

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  2. Beautiful artwork AND free-flowing self-expressive poem! I so admire her creativity, her diverse talents, embrace of life. Very inspirational post, Rosemary.

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  3. A very intriguing and inspiring creative artist. I, too, am blown away by her poem, having read she only recently began exploring poetry - this poem reads like a hot lava flow of truth and being. Thank you for this introduction, Rosemary. Bronwyn is quite wonderful.

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  4. What a gifted lady. An enjoyable poem and beautiful art. I'm intrigued by her saying she HAD to draw... and the words "just came rushing out". A true gift.

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  5. A great post! I went back and reread the poem after reading the backstory and commentary and really - it is a fascinating story of struggle, self-knowledge and accomplishment ... and the role of art in life's 'journey'.

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  6. Thank you, Rosemary, for featuring such a talented artist. it has been said that art can soothe the demons in a person.
    i liked the concept of the artwork composed to go together with the poem. by the way, i liked this artwork too, a face of a person shouting out in anguish(?).

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  7. The artist here, Bronwyn Boniface has so much depth with varied experiences of life: from darkness to light. Beautiful. Thanks for the share Rosemary.

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  8. An interesting interview. I like the boldness of Bronwyn's conceptual art-poetry: true black-and-white creations. I identified my own way of writing in what she said about having the 'urge to purge and let creativity flow. HAD to draw, like I'd be truly bothered or missing something if I didn't scratch the itch [...] Like the words are already there just needing to be said out loud'.

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  9. What I liked best as I read first with the picture in the corner of my eye, was the rhythm--and so I read aloud and there it was like a nursury rhyme, so it's all of a brilliant circle--poem, song, image. Neat to read that the piano hair came last. What a totality! Bravo! And bravo for knowing when to stop tinkering and start to trust oneself. Thanks for sharing Bronwyn, Rosemary. I'm going to look at more of her work.

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  10. Thanks everyone, for the enthusiastic comments. Bronwyn asks me to tell you that your responses meant a lot to her. She cried happy tears, and has been motivated to update her three-year-old website.

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  11. Bronwyn has an enviable talent and passion. The picture and poem are fantastic and it is amazing how she simply lets the words flow. I am so glad you highlighted her here. Thank you for sharing her work.

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