Ann Marie Hovie: Naked Haiku

Nakedness reveals itself. Nudity is placed on display.
John Berger, Ways of Seeing

Modeling is rigorous and unglamorous work; in the end, the model's work becomes what the artist makes of it, and deservedly takes on a life of its own. In a span of a 1, 5, 20 minutes, the model has to reveal something more of herself than what is on display. Her goal is to engage strangers with the pose--with the aliveness of it-while taming her body into unnatural stillness. I began composing haiku during the longer poses of figure modeling sessions as a way of passing time. During breaks I scribble the memorized lines and counted syllables on scraps of paper. Haiku is the perfect form for writing about modeling: the unadorned, meditative, and disciplined nature of the poetry mirrors the act of modeling. As poet and translator Cid Corman states, "Haiku...is almost throwaway-but savored. Feeling is thought-is livingdying."

My challenge was to make a book of these poems. Everyone knows what figurative art is all about, having seen paintings in museums and art galleries of "nudes." Rarely does a viewer consider the environment in which it was created. If models are given any thought at all, generally it is as the object of a romantic liaison with the artist. Resisting the urge to pair the scrolls with figurative art, I chose to focus more on the momentary thoughts and feelings of the "object" of the painting-to give the reader an experience of the other side of figurative work, the side that is thrown away, savored.

Unique. Materials: satin, rayon, india ink, Xerox transfer, wood.