Haiga Showcase: Katja Fox
A good haiku should invite us to capture associations from our own personal, forever-shifting inner life, as otherwise
we would have to be inside
beings and things
as we are inside ourselves
(Henri Bergson)In my visual art, I try to evoke the same concept of catching fleeting moments by repeatedly drawing similar shapes (in this case either bubbles, colours, marks, squares, or rectangles). Because they are hand drawn, they can never be exact copies of the previous ones, as our hand is the extension of our body, soul and immediate environment at one particular moment in time, all of it in constant flux.
In a successful haiga, both art forms converse with one another to express a multitude of feelings in sensuous articulation.
—Katja Fox
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Commentary
By Ron C. Moss, Haiga Editor
The classical enso (“Zen circle”) represents spiritual enlightenment, and the “barefoot wanderer” expresses that concept creatively. Through the tiny tracks that process and gather into a greater whole, Katja finds a unique way to connect the elements of art and haiku. Her choice of color adds a lovely touch.
We can’t help but smile along with “from face.” This wildly cheerful and clever haiga, with its tiny faces and sun-blast of colors, demands that we feel the joy of being alive. When we take stock of the many faces of our fellow travellers, we really are as one.
“she tries so hard” blows away any perceptions of what haiga should be. The art evokes an amazing vision field that allows the senryu to drip into our consciousness, much like that single touch of brilliant red. Katja continues to make creative leaps
The scribbly, watermarked look of “kitchen table” creates a homey, generational context and makes us think of the passing of time, of what marks and scars us. Once again, the juxtaposition of red and blank ink adds a nice contrast. A simple, well-executed haiga with much to remind us about the things we leave behind and how nothing is really wasted.
Who could not love “trip of a lifetime,” with its bright and shiny colors, patterns, and fine detail? I suspect that is Katja driving the wonderfully stylized choo-choo train. As the senryu suggests, she is confident and in control of her journey through life. Just delightful.
The blue eyes in “writing retreat” add a mesmerizing touch to this painting, with its shades of lipstick red and its depiction of a head filled with circles of emptiness. I marvel at how Katja came up with such a startling and original artwork, which marries well with the poem.
About the Artist
Katja Fox is a poet and visual artist from the United Kingdom. Her work can be found in leading poetry journals online and in print, as well as in her poetry collection …and out of nowhere. She loves hiking and listening to the red grouse in the Scottish mountains.