Sandra Avižienytė is one of the foremost Lithuanian poets. She has just published her latest book of poetry, psichopatija (psychopathy). I am honored that she illustrated her book with my artwork, Non-Isolation / Displacement.

In 1980, I visited several islands in the Canadian High Arctic. I took stones that I found on Ellesmere Island and transported them to Victoria Island, where I photographed them, and left them there. This photo-documentation was used as the underlying image in my artwork. This abandoned displacement parallels my own displacement of growing up in a post-war Lithuanian household, displaced from place, displaced from time. Sandra picked up on the underlying theme of this work and chose it for her book.

We had planned a grand event for the formal presentation of this book. This was to include poetry readings, musical performances, a book signing, and an exhibit of my own art works. Many participants were planning to fly in from Lithuania. Unfortunately, the ongoing pandemic ended our plans. A virtual event will now take place.

On May 3, Sandra was interviewed on a Lithuanian radio station. The recording is available by clicking here.

Here are two of her poems:

PROGNOZĖ

galbūt vieną dieną vėl kartu keliausim,

sėdėsim lovoje,

žiūrėsim į žvaigždes ir gersim vyną,

matuosime, kurio pėda didesnė,

ir būsime be priežasties laimingi.

o gal tu susiprasi ir sugrįši,

kur laukia jau tavęs ne vienerius metus.

sodinsit krūmus ir gėles,

kartu vaikų vaikus auginsit,

o aš auginsiu pomidorus.

išmoksim džiaugtis, kuo nemokam džiaugtis,

ir būsime be priežasties laimingi.

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penktas seansas

nebuvo

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