Poetry anthology + digital art inserts, published 2022
Unfurl includes poems written during the years 2021-2022 while I was a Studio Art undergrad at the University of Guelph. It’s the result of being taken seriously as a writer by my peers and instructors. I let my words see the light of day, and even, a few bookshop shelves.
Abundantly vulgar and vulnerable. Wide ranging subject matter that pulls from my own life but stretches out into emotions more universally resonant. Chronic illness, love, religion, a dominatrix alter-ego, metaphysics, and other forward topics.
I paired poems with digitally manipulated collages, ran through several artificial intelligence masks, to generate uncanny, mystical illustrations. Providing the poems with visual ‘resting points’ that can inspire context or perhaps confuse it. An optional meditative pause between lines.
Unfurl is available for purchase online through KDP .
Unfurl was first available for public viewing as an art installation at Boarding House Galleries in Guelph, Ontario. Viewers were invited to sit in a lounge chair by a window and take their time reading this enlarged, colour version of the book print; as seen in the images below.
*The final version of Unfurl [available for purchase through KDP] is a soft-cover version with black and white imagery, slightly different than what is pictured below. I wanted to make it financially accessible and the sort of poetry anthology you could shove in your tote bag to bring around with you. Colour and hard cover versions available upon request.
More poetry written by Jessica / Naeco Studio can be found on instagram @naecostudio.
