I spent several months this year recovering from a fire that sent smoke billowing through my house, coating our belongings in a layer of soot and infusing everything with the smoky aroma I used to associate with pleasant memories of summer camping trips. My life was fragmented as I juggled living in a hotel, parenting, managing the work of a restoration company, and my full-time job. My house was fragmented as all our possessions were packed up to be cleaned, walls were cleaned, carpet was ripped out, and new paint and trim were brought in. Despite the promise of restoration in the company’s name, my house feels a bit like Theseus’ famous ship, which is ostensibly still the same object, although made from mostly new components.
Although I never want to repeat the experience, the events of this summer gave me the opportunity to take stock and evaluate what I hold on to and what I can let go. After twelve years of living in the same home, we were able to reevaluate and move around furniture, switch up rooms, discard some things and add some new ones. I recognized this impulse for integration and recreation in the work of this issue’s featured artist Rebecca Klundt. As she says in her interview with Linda Hoffman Kimball “I collect things that are left behind. I don’t like to waste things. I want to take this mess and put it together and make it a nice, beautiful neat square that you then hang on the wall. There’s a very low expectation when you start with nothing and you make something with it.” I love her use of color and line, and the way each piece of art is constructed from ostensibly unimportant bits of material.
This impulse for creativity and assemblage is also found in our featured prose piece, which reprints Shelah Miner’s interview about marriage with Tom and Louise Plummer from 2011. They describe the way they have woven together the bits and pieces of their lives to build a joyful marriage. Similarly, this issue’s featured poetry showcases three poets, Kate R. Johnson, Haley Ashton, and Lorraine Jeffery, who have used words to create new perspectives that shift our view. And finally we have Emily Milner’s review of Segullah staff member Rosalyn Eves’ new book, Beyond the Mapped Stars, which tells the story of a young woman working to construct her own self.
Here in the United States we are beginning autumn, which often feels like a season of darkness and decay when compared to the lushness of summer. However, it can just as easily be seen as a season for renewal, reconnection, and growth. As this journal issue’s offerings demonstrate, chaos is only a prelude to reassemblage, renewal, and restoration. We hope that these pieces will spark a desire in you to see things with new eyes, to find new connections, and to create something beautiful in your life.
Loving Rebecca's artwork!