About “Circling the start”
by Dixie Denman Junius
Words fail me. Art almost never does.
Early on, I learned not to speak my feelings out loud. Words could be hazardous. Poetry, cryptic, seemed safe but was not. Sketching, sculpting, painting became my refuge and my joy, and art my preferred language.
My truest work is in response to dreams, ideas, and emotions that shimmer just beneath the surface of consciousness, or is treasure I find when I pry open the floor- boards in my mind.
However the image arrives to be created, once I pick up my brushes and other imple- ments, I tend to work all the way through — not wanting to disturb whatever rhythm or flow is in motion. I rarely give up on a piece once I’ve committed to it. I assume it wants completion. Likewise, I don’t return to a piece for revision or change.
Often, I’m astonished at what has taken shape through the work of my hands and my small gift.
The images in this book represent the work of many months and a lifetime.
Ens is the Japanese word for circle and is strongly associated with Zen, symbolizing
anything from a rice cake to eternity.
My expression of the Ens is an opening to reveal the wordless poems in my mind and heart — centering me in the intimate wisdom of the moment. Thus far, I have created over one hundred imperfect circles and interpretations from the Ens .
I believe it is not by chance that my work reflects an Asian sensibility. But is sourced in a compelling affinity for the East going back to my childhood, perhaps further.
Not long ago, I learned that “asemic writing,” which is detached from language, is the term to describe the calligraphy and script that are central to my work — my visual poems. These marks may resemble written words but they are not. And yet they are there to convey meaning.
As imagery and forms emerge in my work, they are supported and completed by asemic script. And as I go, some of the work is almost purely asemical, with, it seems, the images supporting the writing.
I’m told that when I’m writing asemically, my hand seems to dance; this sounds right to me. The music varies widely.
Enter the Glitch!!! Introduced to me by brilliant artist and friend, Kristine Snodgrass. Glitchery is a mystery to me, at once radically meditative and vibrantly energetic.
A glitched image can never be recreated exactly from the same source, rendering it an intensely personal creation, intimate and divine.
Occasionally, the journey from source image to digital rendering is fast and sweet.
Most often, the final image is the result of a lengthy series of small commitments and revelations, leading to an intense moment or a subtle sense of completion. Ah, there it is.
