Relief Study 4 — Massachusetts Poetry Festival

Relief prints over two-color monoprint. In the lower third of the print are six blockish, turquoise, and humanoid figures that depict a sequence of jumping. From the left, the first figure squats, and the second and third figures are in the air. The fourth figure is airborne but upside down, as if the figure is doing a summersault. The fifth and sixth figures show a descent and the sixth figure lands firmly on the ground. In the middle third of the print, there are four gold circles. In the upper two-thirds of the print, there is a black and faded curved that extends horizontally across the painting. Above this line are several faded, black shapes that are reminiscent of clouds.The background is a light gray. — *Relief Study 4* by Audrey Aristeo, 2021, Relief prints over two-color monoprint, 8”x10”

Unlearn Burden

By Anisha Pai

my neck is the light of an 1950s projector: flickering in and out as I inhale and bend toward ————-

yellow
circles.
bloom in my lungs;
give
breath !
into the
backs of your legs,
dragons
play

onto your solid (ish),
your square, your hips
my, ground your self

you can jump I can squat you can

SMASH

About the Poet

Anisha Pai lives in Western Mass and has for almost 6 years now– crazy! They love puzzles, painting, roller skating, dance, the sun and, of course, poetry. Current favourites include Alan Pelaez Lopez and Warsan Shire. Anisha’s main claim to fame is winning the 94th Glascock Poetry Prize in 2017.

About the Artist

Audrey Aristeo is a junior at Montserrat College of Art studying Book Arts. She enjoys working small in two dimensions, with ink pens, watercolor, and more recently printmaking, especially relief and monotype. She is currently experimenting with combining printmaking processes, and she also writes poetry. Her work aims to capture emotion and experience with shape, line, color, and sometimes text. Originally from northeastern Pennsylvania, Audrey now lives in Beverly.