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Vulnerability vs. Strength
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contemporary art juried art exhibitions Vulnerability vs. Strength Artist Kelly Deangelis | A Confession For A Friend

Artist Kelly DeAngelis

New York, New York USA

A Confession For A Friend

Poetry

 

I never asked you to be my priest,
but when you suggested I go to confession
it appeared I had. And yes,
I knelt before you in a time
past, weighed down by a past
addiction, my knees pressed hard against
the pavement, small stones sliding
through the top layer of my skin
with the same ease as the needle.
A slight prick. Situational pain. I wrapped
my arms around your legs
resting my head against your knees,
and you let the material of your jeans
absorb my tears. I admit, I took comfort
in the way the dark denim felt against my skin
as you shifted your weight from one leg to
the other, rough and damp reassurance
that you still stood above me, but
I never wanted you to be my priest.
You obviously misunderstood, because
a year later you look at my knees,
white specks of scars emphasized
by sunburned skin
and offer me the comfort
of a cushioned kneeler and the idea
that I will be saved
by the sight of a stranger’s robe
and the sound of a few Hail Marys.
My sins, your burdens, finally
placed in front of someone else, but
I never needed you to be my priest,
because when I knelt before you
I was begging for more
than forgiveness.

Artist Statement
The poems displayed here are part of a larger collection of work, known as Mysterious Leaps, in which I collaborate with psychoanalyst, John Bliss, to examine the seemingly instinctual oscillation between the mental process and the physical response in the human struggle to survive the agitation of living, the phenomenon that psychoanalyst Joyce McDougall calls the “mysterious leap.”
McDougall writes, “to maintain some form of psychic equilibrium under all circumstances, every human being is capable of creating a neurosis, a psychosis, a pathological character pattern, a sexual perversion, a work of art…”? The poems’ subjects conjure up these manifestations in simultaneously grotesque and mundane ways while seeking psychological reparation through physical acts.
These poems invite you to step onto the “unwavering tightrope”? between the body and mind. In this space, one in which strength and vulnerability are often conflated, I hope to encourage you to consider human action, and its resulting creativity, as necessarily born out of wildly separate yet concurrent impulses.
The views expressed by our artists in their artist statements do not necessarily represent the views of our art galleries. Artists can be visually expressive but may verbally misrepresent their true intentions or ideas. Please note that we support expression, whether it is controversial or not, but our intention is never to offend.

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