(forthcoming, 2018 — Porkbelly’s first zine-style photo chapbook!)
about the artist
Madeleine Barnes is a writer and visual artist from Pittsburgh, PA living in Brooklyn. She is the recipient of a John Woods Scholarship to study poetry in the Czech Republic, a New York State Summer Writers Institute Fellowship, two Academy of American Poets prizes, and the Princeton Poetry Prize. She earned an MFA in Creative Writing from New York University in 2016. Her artwork has appeared on the covers of Washington Square Review, BOXCAR Poetry Review, and Cimarron Review, and in shows at The Miller Gallery, BOOM Concepts, and WORK Gallery. You can find her poetry in places like Pleiades, Fields, YEW Journal, The Scores, Jai-Alai Magazine, Blue Lyra Review, and The Rattling Wall (by Narrow Books). She serves as Poetry Editor at Cordella Magazine, a publication that showcases the work of women-identified and non-binary writers and artists. madeleinebarnes.com | cordella.org
artist statement
The photographs in Light Experiments are layered explorations of people and spaces that feel both familiar and unfamiliar to me. The work focuses on bodily abstractions and the feeling of being “split” from oneself, one’s surroundings, and even one’s sense of identity. As visual intersections, the photographs reflect the way visual, emotional, and physical moments are superimposed, creating a single image that becomes almost otherworldly. This photographic chapbook has no concrete narrative, but instead constructs an experience that will be different for every viewer. It seeks to evoke the same energy and sensations that a language-based poem might, and to challenge ideas surrounding what it means to write poetry.
Porkbelly Press 