Artists Registry
EAST BETHEL MN United States
View
Artist's Statement
Statement of Work
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
I read poems because I cannot stop myself. I write poems because if I stopped myself, I would not be myself. It is all a matter of self, who and what you were appointed to do. Tampering with this ordained arrangement is dangerous. Long ago, I made a bargain with the words of my life: if I made them poems, they promised me meaning. I take in art as though I stood at a shore to swallow the sea and this makes sense to me because the act of making art takes the body’s participation; it takes opening up to let something in. Sometimes my art and poetry become integrative forces out of my control. Other times they work very independently, very stubbornly. Most of the time, I feel like I should just get out of the way for both. But really I make poems and art because I am happiest with a pencil in my hand or with paint or glue under my fingernails. I am grateful that I have the opportunity to exist in both worlds.
The poems submitted appear in two of my three published books: Definite Space which traces the emotional journey of my stepson's three tours of duty in Iraq and Art Lessons which is a conversation between art and poetry. The poem "9/11 Memorial" is from my current working manuscript.
I want to make mention of the poem "Twin Towers" as it is a study of the left and right brain, and thus so appropriate for how the tragedy of 9/11 has forced us to float between these hemispheres of understanding.
Resume
Resume
Biography for Ann Iverson
Ann is a poet and visual artist. She is the author of COME NOW TO THE WINDOW (2003) by the Laurel Poetry Collective and DEFINITE SPACE (2007) and ART LESSONS (2011) by Holy Cow! Press. She is a graduate of both the MALS and the MFA programs at Hamline University. Her poems have appeared in a wide variety of journals and venues including Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor. As a visual artist, she enjoys the integrated relationship between the visual image and the written image. Her art work has been featured in two art exhibits as well as at the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital. Ann has served in education and has taught a variety of humanities classes which explore themes of war through art and literature. She has served in education in some capacity for over 25 years and currently serves as an Associate Provost at Dunwoody College in Minneapolis.