“Recovery” is a complex theme and a challenge to present visually, nonetheless we had a number of beautiful and thought-provoking artworks submitted. The winner of the cover contest is from the compost by Canadian photographer and poet Katharine Weinmann, no stranger to the Synkroniciti community since her debut with us in “Curiosity” in 2023. This colorful and eye catching photograph is rich with meaning. We see the unavoidable destruction of beauty, spent flowers disintegrating and disordered. It is this chaos of color and texture, still lovely, which releases seeds, the promise of new life, the continuation of the plant’s genetic code. It is not unusual in some species, after a particularly difficult season, for a plant to flower copiously so that, if the mother plant doesn’t have enough resources to survive, the smaller plants have a better chance. Some people also experience this post recovery bloom and death as our perceptions and priorities change after a traumatic event. Which part of the process we identify with varies: sometimes we are the plant, sometimes we are the flower, a petal, a seed. Katharine gives us space to explore our feelings, weaving sorrow with celebration. from the compost is cropped for the cover, but will be presented in its full form inside the issue.
The runner -up was Brooke Summers-Perry’s luminous blackout poem, Braiding Sweetgrass 2 (awareness practice).
If you would like to pre-order “Recovery,” you may do so starting tomorrow at https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Congratulations, Katharine!
An intrepid traveller, Katharine Weinmann writes award-winning poetry, walks long distances, sees beauty in life’s imperfections and photographs its shimmer. She blogs at A Wabi Sabi Life and lives with her husband and their dog, Walker, on the Canadian prairies.
Ooh, that is gorgeous 💛—congratulations, Katharine!
Thank you, Jennifer.