The Open Corner: May #3
Kasia’s piece last week drew a few interesting comments, but she’d really love to hear from more of you. Part of the fun (slash risk) of putting art out into the world is hearing what other people take away from it. So look at what she’s made this week and leave thoughts in the comments section below.
And make sure to check in next Wednesday for Kasia’s final Open Corner of the month!
May artist: Kasia Nikhamina
Title: CROWDEDWORLD/МИР ТЕСЕН
From Kasia:
Guess what I liked best about air travel as a kid. In-flight magazines! I took “complimentary copy,” printed in fine font on the cover, very seriously. I always brought home multiple copies of each magazine. Sadly, they’ve gotten worse over the years. But I collected my favorites all through my youth…and two of the central images in last week’s collage come from their pages: the yellow houses reflected in the blue hood of a car and the girl with rolling tresses, remembering, dreaming.
Thanks to Mary for venturing an interpretation–and such a beautiful one, that I wish I’d thought of it myself! Mary wrote, “I’m picturing someone left a book-drop slot ajar, and the next morning the books were found covered in flowers and leaves and rain and other bits that the weather ‘returned’ to the library.”
Actually, it started out as a self-portrait. Взгляд means “glance” in Russian: a glance into the book-drop on Ditmas Avenue, into my life. The tiny red figures are from an ad for New York City’s Romeo + Juliet; the bicycle is from a Transportation Alternatives postcard; Holler Mountain refers to a coffee I love (which our own Market carries); the frequent starling with its pencil yellow beak; the scissors refer to haircuts that mark the passing of time.
I’ll hold my tongue here, lest I spoil the magic of this square, which has an air of stained glass to it, the more I look at it. This week, I’ve tried my hand at another trap for your eyes. It’s called: CROWDED WORLD/МИР ТЕСЕН. Comments welcome, of course. Enjoy!
About Kasia
Kasia Nikhamina writes The Mayor’s Hotel, a creative prose blog that has been mistaken for a real hotel by at least one well-intentioned Italian.
Kasia’s first play, Redbeard & Domicella, appeared at the Brick Theater in 2010. She is working on a new play, Nixon out of office, and “Pícaro,” a coming-of-age story. Her work is often performed at Hearth Gods, a reading series in the East Village.
She was born in Kalisz, Poland, but has lived in New York since she was five. She and her husband, Ilya, moved to Ditmas Park about five years ago.
What is The Open Corner? Find out here.
Interested in participating? Email Avi here.