Commentary by Ron C. Moss

Haiga Showcase: Lavana Kray

Here is a poet and artist who takes the link-and-shift in her haiga very seriously, creating wonderful connections between image and words. With stunning monochrome and color photography, she achieves very high standards that leave us marveling at her skill and creative eye.

smell of gasoline flickers with jazzy red poppies in a blue, blue sky that leaves us breathless. Centrally located and framed by the poppies and foliage, the haiku focuses our attention, and its mysterious shift tantalises us to look closer and find more links.

on the doorstep hits us right away with that amazing textured vegetation. The link is there and the wrinkles of time connect back and forward to the image and poem. There is much to explore here, with more of the mystery being revealed upon each viewing.

whistling wind … what could be more striking and mysterious than footsteps in deep snow? The haiku takes an unexpected twist with the mention of helpless hands, and the shift between their attempted warmth and the wind’s biting cold is echoed in the strong contrasts of the black-and-white image.

In boarded up room, we have the striking image of dark barbed wire set against clouds, only a small bit of white to hint at the open sky beyond. The haiku creates its own contrasts. Lavana is very good at leaving room for viewers to be drawn into a collaboration and find connections between image and poem.

Lavana explains in her own words:

My haiga usually starts with the poem, which I pair with an image that does not illustrate the poem, but suggests it. Sometimes, the photo leads to something other than the message of the haiku, but they always have a common point. Because the eye first makes contact with the photograph, the Golden Rules of Composition in art are essential to me. In the end, when my haiga is ready, both the photo and the haiku must stand on their own “feet,” and together they have to exude emotion. I use only edited images. By editing, I mean, light equalizing, straightening the horizon, contrast, and sharpness.

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About the Artist

Lavana Kray lives in Iaşi, Romania. Her work has appeared in many print and online publications, as well as in haiga exhibitions organized by the World Haiku Association in Japan and Italy, and in 2015 the World Haiku Association awarded her the title of Master Haiga Artist. The author of three photo-haiku books and one tankart collection, he currently serves as editor of Haiga at Cattails (UHTS). See more of her work at https://photohaikuforyou.blogspot.com.