
AutoPortrait (as flotsam)
Kirsten Kaschock(Author)
Tupelo Press, Incorporated
Will be published approx. on 1. September 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
80 pages
978-1-961209-68-8 (ISBN)
Description
An investigation of identity as prompted by art and artists.
In AutoPortrait (as flotsam), Kirsten Kaschock uses the words, lives, and images of other artists as springboards into the self. Arranged almost as a gallery walk, AutoPortrait alternates between masque-like encounters with art and reflective passages engaging memory and desire. Influenced by photographers Francesca Woodman and Cindy Sherman, Kaschock walks a tightrope between vulnerability and artifice-using lines and shapes provided by the many artists referenced here (painters, musicians, and poets) to sketch an impression of a woman artist.
The struggle she chronicles is familiar to any storyteller: an effort to piece together minor episodes to create some semblance of a whole. The question is whether such a project can ever be accomplished. Can the fragments gathered on the shore of memory be tied together, brought to life? Other artists, perhaps especially the abstract expressionists, serve her as both guide and glue. The result is an intimate travelogue-the poet's own narrow road to an interior where she finds a meditative balance between rage and regret, sorrow and joy.
In AutoPortrait (as flotsam), Kirsten Kaschock uses the words, lives, and images of other artists as springboards into the self. Arranged almost as a gallery walk, AutoPortrait alternates between masque-like encounters with art and reflective passages engaging memory and desire. Influenced by photographers Francesca Woodman and Cindy Sherman, Kaschock walks a tightrope between vulnerability and artifice-using lines and shapes provided by the many artists referenced here (painters, musicians, and poets) to sketch an impression of a woman artist.
The struggle she chronicles is familiar to any storyteller: an effort to piece together minor episodes to create some semblance of a whole. The question is whether such a project can ever be accomplished. Can the fragments gathered on the shore of memory be tied together, brought to life? Other artists, perhaps especially the abstract expressionists, serve her as both guide and glue. The result is an intimate travelogue-the poet's own narrow road to an interior where she finds a meditative balance between rage and regret, sorrow and joy.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-961209-68-8 (9781961209688)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Kirsten Kaschock is a poet and novelist who writes across several genres. Her background in dance has impacted her work, which addresses intersections between language and body. She is the author of seven poetry books and a speculative novel, Sleight. She has lived in Iowa, New York, Georgia, and Maryland, and currently resides in Northeast Pennsylvania with her partner.