Haiga Showcase: Mark Meyer
What comes first, the words or the image? That’s the “chicken-and-the-egg” question that I simply cannot answer. I am an eclectic generalist, and my haiga/shahai run the gamut artistically and thematically—the natural and supernatural worlds, the arts and sciences, the personal and interpersonal, macro and micro, and the uncategorized fertile realms of the imagination. Art-wise, I utilize various tools and techniques, analog, digital, and hybridized what-have-you, to pair with my haiku, tanka, and haibun. I’ve been a visual artist for many years, but am relatively new at short-form poetry, so the art hopefully augments the writing—if things “click,” there’s a reciprocal interaction between word and image.
Mark Meyer
Commentary
By Ron C. Moss, Haiga Editor
I’m always amazed at Mark’s creativity, his willingness to push the envelope and break a few rules to achieve something new and exciting—a man after my own heart.
I felt my own “wanderlust” in following the maze map to the fun senryu that brings everything together. Every time I look at this crazily good haiga, with its intricately rendered artwork, new things reveal themselves in “the wayside.”
“mahogany box” jumps off the computer screen. The shift from the box’s intricate patterns—a digital kaleidoscope—to the evocative haiku offers a fine example of effective linking and juxtaposition.
The mystery of “the park at night” is not easily revealed, but it’s beautifully portrayed. The artwork merges with the haiku and they drift back and forth in a rendering of light and shadow, creating a personal observation of time and space.
“ink and brush” features lovely, flowing brushwork, timeless in its traditional form but presented in a modern way. A Zen-like senryu captures the moment of thought about nothing or no-thing—which can, of course, contain everything.
About the Artist
A retired scientist and educator, Mark Meyer has been a visual artist for almost forever. He lives in his head in the middle of Lake Washington and loves dogs, guitars, the moon, Japan, ales, and sundry other diversions. His artwork is represented by Davidson Galleries in Seattle and is in multiple collections. He’s published two books and many short-form works.