Synkroniciti is delighted to welcome back visual artist and poet Sara Risley of Wisconsin, who opens our “Dreams” issue with an inviting poem and two fascinating artworks. “Little Yellow Birds” recounts a dream in the early morning” Small yellow birds cling to me./ Folded into themselves as if asleep,/ they cover my body,/ holding on peacefully and quietly./ I am not fearful;/ it is not an attack.” Like Samuel Prestridge’s “Coyote,” also part of this issue, the birds do not behave normally, but seek out physical contact in a way that communicates deep affection and creates a quiet stillness. Is this a love note from the universe, inviting Sara and, by extension, us, to bask in the knowledge that we are part of the whole that is nature? Is it a love note from Sara’s subconscious mind? Why not both?
Sweet Dreams is a vibrant digital artwork created from photography that has been color shifted, cut into pieces and reassembled, much like an analog collage, but much smoother in texture and transition. It’s a beautiful abstract burst of color, divided and patterned into a vividly colored landscape that recalls light shining through wildly colored foliage–the kind that appears in dreams. Like “Little Yellow Birds,” the effect is calmness, serenity and an invitation to be part of nature’s beauty, but the visual element adds a level of intensity that speaks without words.
Afloat is another digital collage from color shifted photography, but this one recalls naive art and is less smooth, more audacious. It’s an abstract image, but part of the image recalls the prow of a boat, which fits the title. We can clearly pick out tree trunks and branches, revealed in shocking color–bright blue and orange dominate. There is a sense of floating on blue sea, which could pass for blue sky as well, and there is a window looking out onto a landscape that looks vaguely urban. To me this speaks of how our inner world and self is grounded, or in this case floating, in a place outside of our everyday reality. Sara encourages us to be ourselves and keep our internal world alive.
Experience Sara’s vision in Synkroniciti’s “Dreams” issue, available for purchase here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Sara Risley lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and in the depths of winter, wonders why. Born and raised in Elgin, Illinois, she got her BFA in photography and film arts from Southern Methodist University and, after a 27 year career as a portrait photographer making everyone look pretty, she was sick of reality and escaped into abstract art. She paints, collages, and creates photographic art all abstractly. Her photographic creations begin with her own digital photographs then she lets her quirky vision (and Photoshop) blend and meld different images into fine artwork. The source images can be anything that catches her eye: city grunge, nature, her own artwork, and even her own body.
She loves going to the theater and reading. See her work at sararisley.com.