"Emily Dickinson chose to live such a secluded and simple existence that she is often negatively portrayed as a bizarre and reclusive little woman with an aggressively ingrown temperament. However, this critical caricature ignores a vitally important point: Dickinson's ultra-mundane lifestyle and purposefully limited living space allowed her to cultivate a rich and vibrant internal life that set her apart from every other artist of her time. Her poems constitute a wholly singular aesthetic, filled with whimsy and wit, birds and insects, existential inquiry and unorthodox syntax, all assembled in a way which testifies to a piercing and peerless self-knowledge that speaks profoundly to us as human beings. Honestly, I admire Emily Dickinson's bravery and mental fortitude almost as much as I love her poetry. In choosing an existence that consisted primarily in contemplative and creative isolation, she risked living a life of boredom, depression, insanity, or all-consuming loneliness. However, Dickinson was williing to make her world small enough that every speck of pollen, blade of grass, patch of light, and individual thought could assume a new and brilliant color. I love Dickinson for her ability to see the devastatingly beautiful in the exceptionally ordinary. I consider her heroic for having the courage to live in constant pursuit of it."
"I chose to represent the dichotomy present in Emily's simple way of being and vibrant thought life with an unadorned graphite portrait of the subject, juxtaposed with a thriving watercolor garden. I created this piece not only to pay my respects to a favorite writer, but to use my art to make others question the value of their lifestyles. Like Dickinson did with her poetry, I want to show others a fresh and painfully personal way to view human experience."
- Rachel Butcher -
