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Special Showcase: Hong Fook Mental Health Association's Youth and Family Services Discovery College

6/3/2022

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Editor's Note:

I recently had the privilege of teaching art history, poetry, and expressive writing to young people in a course with Hong Fook Mental Health Association in Toronto. We explored visual art on a variety of themes such as artists with mental health challenges, hope and resilience, and personal and cultural identity. I have been so inspired by the unique, thoughtful insights on art and the expressive poetry of these wonderful people. These are works by participants who were willing to share their poetry publicly. Thank you so much, Winsome, Caroline, and Janet! 

Facilitator's Note: 

The Writing for Self-Expression workshop was one of our first courses co-produced with young adults in Hong Fook’s Youth and Family Services Discovery College program. Courses and workshops in the Discovery College focus on offering youth opportunities to discover their strengths, talents, and skills to help connect them with their community and shape their sense of identity.
 
This was a wonderful and unique experience from design to delivery. Youth were involved in coproducing the course with Lorette and our community partner, the Collaborative Learning Center at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. In a two hour session, youth shared their opinions and ideas on what would make this workshop a great experience for participants. From those conversations Lorette selected art and artists that reflected the specific themes youth had wanted to explore, including the themes of mental health, hope, personal transformation, relationships, and identity:  gender, cultural, and social.
 
As well, thanks to the generosity and our partnership with the Art Gallery of Ontario, students also had a chance to visit the Art Gallery of Ontario and offer recommendations to Lorette on art that they wanted to talk or learn about. This was truly an immersive experience.
 
There is a lot that I can say about the value of a workshop like this and the impact that it has on youth. One of the highlights that we saw was how the workshop offered students a platform to reflect on their own experiences and each of the themes. It invited them to explore the topics in greater depth through art and conversations. We have run a similar workshop with Lorette in the past and are always inspired by the way youth are able and willing to engage in meaningful, rich, and honest conversations around art, life, and writing.
 
The result of this process is the celebration of all the beautiful pieces that you see in this showcase. Thank you to all of the youth, Lorette, and everyone involved in making this a memorable workshop. Congratulations to all of our students and writers!
 
Moshe Sakal, Peer Coach

Winsome Adelia Tse

Picture
Cat, by Louis Wain (UK) c. 1920?
 
Looking Glass
 
You can remember it like last week:
 
a few steps from the table / the high echo of porcelain clinking,
muted conversation; but warm, and jovial,
No one is looking as you exit, stage left.
 
a path illuminates ahead… is it dark? / no, you feel the sun, still.
the forest shies away, retreats from you: as if your presence chases it.
each step on the stones, one follows another
 
You bring something with you on each measured motion,
though you’ve already brought it before / whether you know it or not.
 
And suddenly, It is somewhere else.
And so are you.
 
A few steps from the table / onward to Tomorrow.
No one is watching… before you know it,
You’re there, like me.
 

Expansion
 
In a place full of choices that feels endless and stretches outward in all directions,
All that I can see seems full of fears.
 
Sometimes they push me stronger that way - or this,
And then there are times when I am pulled, drawn in, enticed.
 
For the times I am moved to go,
Towards it,
Steps, resolute
To the way of the things that scare me.
 
Sometimes the pursuit of the only things I am sure of: the fears.
My fear.
When I reach out to wrap my fingers and cup it in my hands,
I open my palms and see me reflected back.
I am gathering pieces of myself, all along.
 
These fears are things I know well enough to transform into shadows.
I am collecting the pieces to reveal myself as I was, as I am, and as I could be. 


Inspired by  Ideograph, by  Bernice “Bingo” Bing (USA) contemporary. Click here to view.
 
Thought Abstraction (a “Korean sijo”)
 
The residue of language;     these swirling lines take new form.
My mind full but now quiet,     silent hums all spilt upon the page.
Transference of the day’s spirits;     Understanding has come to pass.
Picture
Tree of Hope, Remain Strong, by Frida Kahlo (Mexico) 1946
 
One Self (a “Korean sijo”)
 
In the mirror: Radiant delight.     It beams forth in earnest.
From shadows beneath,     vigilant inner child repeats numb words.
What peace might be built in Balance;     two sides reconciled at last.
​

This piece was inspired by The Academy, by Kent Monkman (Canada) 2008. Click here to view.
 
Flux (a “Japanese haibun”)
 
Time lapses like my memory. The drip of melting ice is heard as sprouts shoot forth
​and push past a new layer of new earth. The world is cyclical.
                   Nature shivers as it changes, no two seasons the same. 
                   I feel that movement echoed through me.
The soft and wavering quality of wet grass or powdered snow. The warmth of the sun
shines around the slow spin of the earth. The crisp of dry leaves or bursting fruit.
                   In my mind, all of nature coalesces.
                   It moves through and changes. 
It is the eternal shift, yet each moment is purely singular. Never the same again.
 
shifting like seasons
mostly none but within her
fluctuating whole

Winsome Adelia Tse

Winsome Adelia Tse is an artist, illustrator, and creative from Greater Toronto, Canada. They work in a variety of media on themes of introspection, beauty, and the monumental within the mundane. Regardless of final product, their process is one of deep care and is as much intellectualized, as it is visualized. They see each creation as its own contained story, worth telling no matter grand or fleeting. A selection of their visual works is on their artist portfolio, www.winsomeadeliatse.com.
​


​Caroline Esther Chan


​

Picture
Painting by Louis Wain (UK) 1880s?
Untitled

The bright, sunny days that once were like a spotless teapot.
Now cracked and stained with grime that used to be fine.
Joyful colours dulled and warped by the storm in which none could be warned.
Scrub once, no gain.
Scrub twice, just pain.
Scrub again and again to find the bright, sunny days of the past.
I see it. A glimpse of the smiles and warmth from before.
I see it. The scowls and frigid swords that tore.
I see it. The new patterns and colours given birth by the dirt.
I see it. A new future where okay, maybe I’ll be hurt.
The bright, sunny days that once were like a spotless teapot.
Now shining differently in a way that says, “I’ll be just fine.”

​

Untitled
​
Stifling, rigid, unspoken expectations. Both internal and external. Fear and anxiety like a blanket that feels safe, threatening and suffocating all at the same time. Will I say or do the wrong thing and be cast out again? Will I give my trust only to be ripped apart? Can I use that dread to connect the threads of stories and emotion like an explosion? Maybe I can make a journey feel like an uphill climb by wrapping it up in a blanket of art? What kind of art? A song perhaps? Something that seems so natural and unintrusive like sound. I’ve always wanted to write music. The more I think about it, the more right it feels. If I write about it, talk about it, maybe I can convince myself again to give it a go. To give it my all without trying to viciously stomp and blow out this flame.

Untitled

Sticks and stones may break your bones, but
Is there any way for me to atone?
And I guess I really can’t complain, but
Is there any way for me to explain?
The chills, the thrills, the emotions I kill.
The joy, oh boy, is this just a ploy?
To run, to fly, or possibly die.
‘Cause it’s just like they say, you
Take an eye for an eye.


Untitled

I carefully avoid harsh judgement. My body warns me of the danger that comes with confiding in others. I feel the shame creeping up on me, ready to pounce. Barely able to communicate in a language I grew up with. Wanting to connect. Not wanting to know what they say or think about me. I’m a cowardly child who runs, hides, keeps to myself, and hurts. Sometimes hiding parts of myself to keep the small amount of peace and respect hurts. I don’t want to draw attention to myself or be ousted, but I want to be seen and validated.
​

A thin tightrope walk
To jump or fall, I don’t know
Am I satisfied?

Picture
Exhibition advert for artist and friends, Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat.

Untitled

In memory of my long-time friend and classmate Ringo Wong

An intense yet half-hearted game of tug of war.
A slippery slope where I slip and slide and sigh, but even so
What I gained was something I couldn’t search for.

Caroline Esther Chan

Caroline Chan lives in Toronto, Canada.
​

Janet L.
​

Picture
Painting by Louis Wain (UK) 1880s?

Tea Party

​Where in the world is this place? Am I dreaming?
           Are you lost little one? You don't look like you're from around here.

Who's there?
           You look so pale and frail. Take these luscious ruby seeds! It has a good mixture of bitter and sweet. Mhmm hmm, it is quite scrumptious, mind you!

Have you seen un lapin blanc? I need to head back home!
           Lost your way home, I see. I was heading to this tea party! You are welcome to join me.

I can't do that! I have responsibilities. I have obligations I need to attend to first!
           But this is paradise! Why would you want to leave, darling?

My family must be worried sick. I miss my friends dearly, and I'm homesick!
          You poor thing... What others wanted you to be; what the world wanted you to give. You can't do all of that on your own, can you now?

Oh, dear me! I have to wake up from this nightmare!
           A little fun wouldn't hurt, wouldn't you agree?

My apologies, but I have dillydallied long enough! I must get going!
           This "nightmare" is the Underland, my sweet child. No one can ever leave. Why don't you stay with us a little longer?...
Picture
Tree of Hope, Remain Strong, by Frida Kahlo (Mexico) 1946

Tree of Hope

Born with a disability, 
         feeling weak, numb and unwanted

Raised in captivity,
         weighing life that was a gift to me

Shrouded by invisibility,
         accepting fate as I rest


The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away

Swallowed up by the void
Drifting alone in the unknown abyss
Crashing vibrations as the hollow silence echoes
Engulfing in a wisp of smoke and inky water

The stars and the suns are so far away
Slowly withering into nihility
One speck of life in a vast multiverse
How can I compare?

Bloom like a newborn star in spring
Tremble like an earthquake in the cosmos
Your beginning or your demise
Whatever course you decide to take, be courageous and stand proudly

​Janet L.

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