DIANA C. HOAGLAND Engages
Apperceptions of Reinterpretations
by Felino A. Soriano
(Calliope Nerve Media, 2009)
[First appeared in Leaf Garden, Issue 10, August 2010]
A Journey Across Borders
Have you
ever asked yourself, how much of myself have I stepped beyond? Is there a place
for the steps of others to move me forward? If so, you will certainly find the
work of Felino A. Soriano a welcome challenge to your preconceived
notions. He will help you fly away, away from the world of
restrictive conventions, a world that is not consumed by only your perceptions.
This work spans some eighty pages of over 125 poems entering us into the world
of ekphrasis, a synergistic tribute to paintings spanning the globe from the
USA, Ghana, Bali, Peru, Russia and West Africa, among others.
In this
poetry is a self immersed in the rythyms of the soul and
it’s metaphysical associations. Many of the artist’s tones have
sprung from the heart of a wealthy tradition mixing the energy of
smooth jazz and the colors of a painted canvas. The spirit of Felino’s
work reminds me of the Japanese Tea Ceremony where the slide of the trombone or
the air of the saxophone are like a single blossom that lights up the center of
the room.
The
paintings that inspire and infuse him represent the hanging scrolls revealing
the four key principles of the Way of Tea—Harmony, Respect, Purity and
Tranquility. When he writes, the words that we read across the many directional
page bring us to a bow of respect that spreads our appreciation of his
deep sense of humble honor and authenticity. In the summer, the Tea
Ceremony uses shallow bowls to allow the tea to cool faster and in his work we
see that sometimes he lays down the meanings to us gently yet profoundly
enough to whisper greatness in our ears.
As the
seasons change, so does the great work of this man we have been blessed to
know. For like the bamboo used to form the tea scoop,
each line of this work is also unreproducable, unique and the
becoming of a new moment. Though many people drink tea and write poetry, the
question is, do they in fact perform the ceremony that rewrites the word and
blazes a trail worth remembering?
Felino’s
images feel like an internal light through which
letters come through as contrasting sprites of a developing
spirit, undertaking such beauty that we have to take a seat beside him. His
lines and shapes change as he jumps inside each new work. Felino isn’t
following some outdated form, he is making form. The pulling of letters across
the page, the taking of the ‘soul’ into a new dimension, are the leaving behind
for the phenomenal=peace. His tributes to the artists are not limited by their
age or school or form. Age is no issue, like Felino’s work, he
respects in others that art manifests without time; it is in the
time of expression that we age.
Felino,
himself, is an inspiration to aspiring writers. He published one poem in 2001,
then not again until 2004, but since 2006 it has been an explosion with over
1,500 poems published to date. He exemplifies that when your time has come, it
comes without resistance. He shows that we have to reach that place inside and
in his case, it is with the courage and respect of one form of art relating to
another, it is going beyond, a tribute and personal growth where no one loses
and the world wins.
Socrates
said to Phaedrus, “The painter’s products stand before us as though they were
alive, but if you question them, they maintain a most majestic silence.”
He talks to
us. When I looked at “Beth Maddox’s Midnight Sail,” I saw an arched crown in
the distance, a single moment of reflection, a single sail among so much
purple. What did Felino say? “…Soon: horizon:
hiding
behind
walls
the mind cannot properly sustain.”
Do you see
what I see? It is as if he is emphasizing what is important—what are the limits
of my mind? How far can you go if you don’t close yourself off too soon?
Felino’s
smooth rhythm is the beautiful result of two stimuli, Jazz and Philosophy,
hence, why we feel the dialogue he is engaging in, the importance of enhancing
and expanding where the painter started. It is fitting that the cover art is
done by Michael McAloran, an artist and poet himself. The two were born to be
together.
In his
tribute to Diana Huidobro, he leads us into reflection and self criticism with
“…expressionistic, value-based reality, stilled into the brain’s copacetic
mausoleum.” Do we not see that we have the capacity to look beyond the daily
experience, the one that not everyone sees? Contemplation.
Some of the
work stands out even more than the rest. One artist that was chosen is Natal’ia
Sergeevna Goncharova, who much like Felino had her moment come and became a
prolific artist with her own style modeled after Rayonist forms. In 1913, she
displayed over 700 paintings in one show. Felino lets us fall into her world
with, “…silence walks backwards…golden reinvention.” We feel that reinventing
is not only possible but necessary, to experiment in order to let go of the
walls that make art commercial, limited and without breath.
The other
that captured me was his tribute to Michael Flohr’s Blue Note. Did you know that the ‘blue note’ is the symbol of
freedom, originality, and the unexpected? That is Felino and as one friend also
said, he and his work, ‘Just Blow My Mind’, incredible, if only we all could be
in his class?
And where I
will conclude, not where I will stop, is with Felino’s piece on Todd Horne’s Piano Keys (3/4). In my humble opinion,
each word is a step to a sound with fingers, word art and rotation, using what
was left from the dust of the paintbrush. He says, “…curvature…the how of the
why now?” To this we pledge allegiance to obtaining esoteric deliverance!
Here’s to good poetry, to life, to bending the mind backwards until there is
nothing left but beautiful notation.
*****
Diana
C. Hoagland was raised in Wyoming and Colorado. Started writing poetry and
short stories at age 7 and each of those have been a lifelong source of
inspiration and encouragement. She holds a B.A. in History and a M.S. in
Interdisciplinary Telecommunications from University of Colorado Boulder.
However, due to various factors including bouts of mental illness, she didn’t
work in either discipline. Not to be let down, she spent several years using
her writing skills in ventures such as grant writing for non-profit
organizations, etc.
She
is a proud mother of two beautiful daughters and three grandchildren, whom have
also been a source of inspiration in her work. Diana has done a lot of
traveling including spending ten years in Algeria. While there, she served as a
volunteer teacher of English as a Second Language for three years. This
position afforded her the experience of working with the U.S. Embassy on a
project for M.E.P.I (Middle East Peace Initiative). She taught creative writing
to High School students of which a few of them got scholarships to study in the
USA.
Today,
she is in a recovery program in Illinois for surviving mental illness and hopes
her writing will inspire and motivate others who battle the same or just
struggle with their identity. Knowing by example that you can survive and
thrive because it isn’t over yet. Her message, ‘Never give up’ and realize you
always get a second chance.
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