Illumination of A Poem

The Lesson

I keep on dying again.
Veins collapse, opening like the
Small fists of sleeping
Children.
Memory of old tombs,
Rotting flesh and worms do
Not convince me against
The challenge. The years
And cold defeat live deep in
Lines along my face.
They dull my eyes, yet
I keep on dying,
Because I love to live.

by Maya Angelou

For this assignment, I chose to use the cyanotype printing process to illustrate this poem, by the inimitable Maya Angelou. I pick out key words and phrases that speaks to me the most, and evokes the most emotion.

(veins collapes, sleeping, children, tombs, rotting flesh, cold defeat, lines along the face, dying)

All these thoughts conveys old age, death, struggle, rebirth, the duality of life, pain and pleasure.

So I started with a drawing of a figure laying in what I think is vulnerable position. Almost fetal position.


I trace that sketch onto another surface, breaking down major areas and turning the figure into a landscape.


The drawing is then scanned and type is added... after this I make the negative transparency to make the prints.


The image printed using the negative transparency.


The printed image trimmed, toned, and tinted.