Project I: Given. Taken. Chosen.

A New Horizon

Many books, artists, ideas, and personal experiences inspired our first project, but the initial inception came on a long hike up Crow Peak Trailhead outside Spearfish, South Dakota in the summer of 2019.

As two Humanities majors, we were discussing art, philosophy, and theology during the hike. In particular, we puzzled over how we could merge our own respective artistic skillsets—poetry and painting—into one creative project that grappled with the big ideas that inspired us. We spent the next year bringing that idea to life.

Spearfish Canyon

August 2019

Themes

Vanora’s debut project comes in a three-part series, which will release every week on our website from mid-August into Fall of 2020. Each series falls under a broad, yet particular, title which serves as its theme and inspiration. The three themes also contain three corresponding poems and paintings each.

The three themes are Given, Taken, and Chosen. Each word represents one fundamental aspect of the Human experience, something of what it means to be human. In that sense, the themes are admittedly broad and invite interpretation. On the other hand, the more Zach and Cameron dug into these words, the more they acquired particular meaning and resonance. You may experience both sides of these themes as the series unfold. We also plan to release accompanying essays with each series, which will delver deeper into the themes.

Process

We took a unique approach to this one. First, Zach would pull from his own inspirations to create a 12”x12” painting under one of the three themes: Given, Taken, or Chosen. He would then send the painting to Cameron, who spent the following days or weeks with it until a corresponding poem emerged. He would draft the poem and send it back to Zach. Once per series, they reversed the process: Cameron would write a poem first and send it to Zach, who would then paint from the poem. They followed this process for all 9 poems and paintings of the project, finding it both creatively challenging and energizing.

Ultimately, the project aims to provide readers and viewers with a fresh art encounter—poems and paintings that explore some of life’s most basic and inscrutable mysteries.

And this is only the beginning.