Artwork: Jeffrey Gibson (b. 1972), Migration, 2016, acrylic and graphite on canvas, 70 x 57 1/8 in. Art Bridges. Image courtesy of the Artist and Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles, CA. Photography by Peter Mauney
–
The Yellowstone Museum of Art
Migrations
after and artwork by Jeffery Gibson
Birds transit together
above layered landscapes
still wet with bright,
arterial blood staining
an unacknowledged past.
Raised delineations
mark forced separations,
scars arbitrarily
linear but deep…
storylines funnel
to indigo pools.
Reservoirs reflect
shards of conquest,
submerge memories
of buttercups
and waving goldenrod.
The dark, mesmeric
center pulses, pulls
focus inward.
Resist.
Zoom out.
Follow the birds.
above layered landscapes
still wet with bright,
arterial blood staining
an unacknowledged past.
Raised delineations
mark forced separations,
scars arbitrarily
linear but deep…
storylines funnel
to indigo pools.
Reservoirs reflect
shards of conquest,
submerge memories
of buttercups
and waving goldenrod.
The dark, mesmeric
center pulses, pulls
focus inward.
Resist.
Zoom out.
Follow the birds.
Julie Schultz