Welcome to our Spring/Summer Issue!

Featured (Re) Contributors:

TEXT: Jen Karetnick. Ellen June Wright. Dollin Wilson-Ovaroh Holt. Edward A. Dougherty. Cea. Maria Surricchio. Bonnie Wolkenstein. Sean Johnson. Ute Kelly. The Multi-Genre Science Corner: When Paranormal Fashion Speaks, We Listen. ART: Hedieh Javanshir Ilchi. MUSIC: Leonhard Skorupa and his group Sketchbook Quartet/Orchestra.

Welcome to (Re)!

I am very excited to present a curated “journal of ideas” that is a meeting place of visual art, prose, science, and more.

The idea for this endeavor came about from my love of vintage clothing and found objects and the way in which one ‘re’cycles these objects, et al. to make them their own. This concept then grew from that which we acquire in this vein, to that which we create through our various art forms (and yes, science and math are considered here, to be ‘the application of creative skill and imagination,’ as art is formally defined). All of the material presented incorporates a re-root word, such as relive, reinvent, reuse…into its framework in whatever way the artist chooses. And so, (Re) is a product of this expanded idea.

The journal, available quarterly online, features the work of artists/creators/thinkers in various categories and I am honored to present their work within this forum.

Thank you so much for taking the time to explore this new and evolving (re)source.

I hope you enjoy the ride!

— Felice Neals
Writer, reader, photographer, dance devotee, film citizen, language-a-phile…

TEXT

We are very excited to feature the (re)splendent work of nine poets, chosen from our (Re) poetry open call.

Thank you to all who submitted their poems. We are honored that you chose to share your work with us.

Many heartfelt thanks to our final readers – award-winning poets, Kristine Esser Slentz and (Re) Editor H.E. Fisher. We appreciate your time and careful consideration of all of the great work that we received for this Issue.

See Kristine and H.E.’s bios on the OTHER STUFF Page.

Yeast

Jen Karetnick

I Need to Learn the Language of the Earth

Ellen June Wright

We Too, Yes, We Too

Dollin Wilson-Ovaroh Holt

(Only by//Only)

Edward A. Doughterty

My Dear, HIV

Cea

Wave Function

Maria Surricchio

We Don't Speak of Heaven in My Tribe

Bonnie Wolkenstein

Cast Iron Skillet

Sean Johnson

(Re)treat

Ute Kelly

THE MULTI-GENRE SCIENCE CORNER

“Science is the poetry of reality.” — Carl Sagan

Fashion designer Seiran Tsuno: “Clothing is a means of communicating with an invisible world.”

When I came across the “otherworldly” clothing creations by Seiran Tsuno, I was fascinated by her “science fiction” approach to color and structure.

Her designs, which she describes as “paranormal fashion,” range from dresses to suits and embrace an ethereal blend of shape and style. All of which began as an experiment with a 3D pen.

“When I was contemplating how a person like myself, with no knowledge or skills in clothes making could do this, I encountered the 3D pen, and when I dressed my father in a trial piece, it looked as if he was having an out-of-body experience, and hence came the piece concept of an “out-of-body necklace.”

Fashion, like any art form carries the landscape and vision of the artist. Here’s to the (re)imagining of classic concepts and the constant flow of innovative ideas.

For more on Seiran Tsuno’s work:

https://pen-online.com/design/japanese-designer-seiran-tsuno-advocates-paranormal-fashion/

ART

(Re)ground

Artist: Hedieh Javanshir Ilchi

My work is the product of my multifaceted experience as an Iranian-American immigrant. It provides
a space where my two disparate histories come together to reflect on cultural traditions and notions
of belonging. By combining conventions of Western abstraction with conventions of Persian art, I
explore contradictory painting processes and the ways in which they can be melded into a hybrid visual
language. These pictorial clashes echo the erasure and distortion of cultural identities, evoking
allegories of intrusion and invasion and moving beyond the personal to reference contemporary and
historical interference.

Having moved to the U.S. from Tehran at age 18, my lived experiences complicate my sense of identity
as I navigate between Iranian and American cultural norms that are often contradictory. Rooted in
this experience is my deep interest in the idea of “dualities”: abstraction and representation; depth and
flatness; transparency and opacity; and delicacy and crudeness are simultaneously present in my work.
Fluid layers of poured paint are interlaced with intricately painted patterns and imagery derived from
Persian paintings, illuminated manuscripts and Islamic architecture. The resulting images become
portals to unknown worlds, echoing terrestrial and extraterrestrial vistas, hinting at galaxies, satellite
imageries, land, earth, and molten matter. These paintings merge conflicting elements into sublime
landscapes that tread the fine line between equilibrium and chaos as well as between nostalgia and a
sense of estrangement.

In addition, my work is a visual nod to the polarized impulses present in the global context and an
opening to investigate the socio-political landscape through my unique lens. I’ve lived through harsh
external sanctions imposed on Iran, as well as the repression of an authoritarian government. By
blending culturally disparate languages of abstraction, my paintings become vistas in which images of
such cultural and historical conflicts can play out: intricately painted tiles suggesting fragments of
sacred Islamic architecture are invaded with cracked and coagulated layers of poured paint, and the
stylized landscapes of Persian miniatures are inundated and overwhelmed by the otherworldly
atmosphere of color field painting. Such approaches allude to the long tradition of outside meddling
in Iran’s cultural and political sphere.

And inside stretched such an emptiness

2021. Acrylic and watercolor on panel. 30×24 inches

You had withdrawn your beauty, softly

2021. Acrylic and watercolor on panel. 10×10 inches

Drawing of a woman lying in a hospital bed

Some place, that cannot bear your absence

2021. Acrylic and watercolor on

panel. 30×24 inches

Hedieh Javanshir Ilchi was born in Tehran, Iran and currently lives and works in the Washington, D.C. area.
Ilchi received an M.F.A. in studio art from American University and a B.F.A. from the Corcoran College of
Art + Design. She is the recipient of the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Creative Fellowship, Zeta Orionis
Painting Fellowship, Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in Painting, and Bethesda Painting
Award. Ilchi has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions nationally. Her work has been featured
in a number of publications including The Washington Post, Hyperallergic, Art Papers, the Washington City Paper, and
the New American Paintings. Ilchi has been an artist-in-residence at the Ucross Foundation, Millay Arts, Vermont
Studio Center, Jentel Foundation, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Playa Summer Lake, Monson Arts, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She is represented by Hemphill ARTWORKS Gallery in Washington, D.C.

MUSIC

What a treat it was to discover the music of Vienna-based jazz musician Leonhard Skorupa and his group, Sketchbook Quartet/Orchestra.

The sound, a captivating layer of rhythm and beat dares to explore the space where “eclectic postmodern chamber jazz meets rock. Rich with detail and a charming compositional finish that leaves you yearning for the unexpected.” (Andreas Felber OE1/WDR 3 Jazznacht)

We are pleased to share “Bangkok,” a tune from Ungatz, the group’s latest album, composed by Leonard Skorupa.

Skorupa: “Bangkok” is a musical ramble through a fascinating city full of contrasts: restless modernity meets traditional ritual, Western chic meets Far Eastern contemplation. Hectic and contemplation, tradition and high-tech, extreme poverty and unreal wealth, Moloch and oasis – all often only a stone’s throw away from each other.

You can find more information on Leonhard Skorupa and Sketchbook Quartet/Orchestra here:

https://sketchbookquartet.com
www.leonhardskorupa.com

Enjoy! FN

OTHER STUFF

Here is where I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the (Re) contributors, the friends and family who support this adventure with their encouragement and guidance, Lori and Jim, the web consultants who are holding my hand as I build this site with no previous experience in the web tech arena, and the wonderful readers, who I hope will continue to follow our recent move from monthly to quarterly content. Thank you! Merci! Gracias! Shukriya! Grazie! Obrigado! Xiexie! Amsegenallo! Asante! Shukraan!

COVER photograph by Felice Neals: Tile study from the Magic Gardens. Philadelphia, PA. 2022.

ART photographs by Hedieh Javanshir IIchi.

TEXT photographs by Felice Neals: Oppidan Elasticity. (That moment when you come across a downtown sidewalk sprinkled with tiny elastic bands and can’t wait to excavate the camera…)

THE SCIENCE CORNER: Photographs by Sho Makishima for PEN Magazine.

THANK YOU, as always, to our Editor H.E. Fisher for her sharp eye and invaluable contribution. I could not have gotten this project off and running without her support and editorial expertise.

And THANK YOU to our final readers for our first (Re) poetry open call, Kristine Esser Slentz and H.E. Fisher,