Steven Schroeder

Revolution Now [2017]

24x36 inches, oil on canvas

Artist Statement: When I think of "God stories," I think of parables – explosive little narratives that are not about God but about ordinary life, where (by affirmation and by negation, by design and by chance), we encounter God's presence. In the parables of Jesus, they often begin with "God's presence is like..." and turn in surprising ways that change the way we see the world. In "revolution now," I consider the dandelion, which, in my thinking, stands in for the mustard seed.

...consider the dandelions, how they neither toil
nor reap nor for a moment think money
is speech but hold each other in the light
that slips through every crevice that follows
a change in the weather. They hold each other
in the light, and light themselves, a body of light,
they dig deep in dirt. Like water, they

turn and do what they must do to make a place
where they are standing now, a barricade
of flowers. And then

they die, sure-footed. And then
they come again, like light when
pavement breaks and yet another
Spring comes stumbling over them.

bio: Steven Schroeder is a poet and visual artist who lives and works in Chicago.

 
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