Please join Synkroniciti in welcoming back writer and visual artist Denise Bossarte of Houston, Texas. We are excited to feature a flash piece, “Dishes,” and two photos, Honeymoon and Wedding Plans in our “Dreams” issue. Denise gives us complex and thought-provoking insights into marriage and relationships that call into question the male gaze and rage that persist in civilized society.
“Dishes” is the story of a woman washing dishes as her husband rages from the bathroom while he readies himself for work. He is angry because she asked about fixing the dishwasher.
“She felt the sudden and surprising eruption of a response; an overwhelming desire to take the plate in her pink-gloved hand and hurl it against the wall. To watch it shatter into an impossible number of pieces, just like her heart did every time he used words to beat her down. No need for physical violence when words alone could shrink her into oblivion.”
This woman, like many abused partners, talks herself out of expressing her anger and decides instead to embrace a strategy of micro aggressions which may prove every bit as dangerous if she is caught. The idea that one partner should always lead, unchecked by the instincts, wisdom and capabilities of the other, creates situations where partners, most often women, are unsafe and undervalued, situations where they are not allowed to individuate. Denise’s writing has an alliterative poetic energy full of plosives, sibilants and fricatives that begs to be read aloud, expressing the bitterness that thwarted individuation creates.
In the photos, Denise deftly uses dress mannequins to show how the male gaze shapes what is expected of a woman getting married. She takes the shots through shop windows, similar to Jason Baldinger’s set earlier in the issue, but it’s quite difficult to tell whether we are looking out or in. The fusion of interior and exterior worlds by use of reflection grants a surreal dreamscape and there is much to decode. Honeymoon shows a headless mannequin in a sultry pose, wearing a lacy bra and panties with her hand provocatively placed. This sexiness is invaded by a vision of the parking lot. A semi gapes open, the loading ramp cutting across the mannequin’s body at angle through her bellybutton. It’s discreet and you might not notice it at first glance, but it speaks to how women are often viewed as something to fill up with dreams and desires, vehicles for someone else’s future. There’s a clock in the reflection, emphasizing the fleeting nature of beauty and fertility. In contrast, Wedding Plans is more somber in color and texture. This mannequin wears a wedding dress, her angled neck and ball-like head appearing wistful as she gazes through an arched window at her own reflection against a brick pillar–presaging other brick walls she will face later. There is an SUV, a definite “mom” car in the parking lot across the street that projects across her torso where her heart would be. Note that neither woman is given space for a brain or even a face–whether she is wedding day restrained or honeymoon hot (and is a woman supposed to be both?)–there is no space for individuation or autonomy. Denise’s symbolism is at once brutal and eloquent, much like our dreams.
Experience Denise’s powerful work in Synkroniciti’s “Dreams” issue, available for purchase here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Denise Bossarte is an award-winning author, poet, photographer, and visual artist whose passion is inspiring others. Her photography is in the Buddhist Contemplative Photography tradition, Miksang. She has been a practitioner of Miksang photography for 15 years and a Miksang teacher for over 12 years.
She enjoys writing, exploring new art forms, and teaching contemplative photography workshops. She lives in Texas with her husband and literary cat, Za’ Ji.