Haiku Pyrography
Brasswax
Artist Statement:
I do haiku. Specifically, I write poems with the traditional 5-7-5 structure while employing a contemporary register of American English for publication, performance, and visual works of “haiku pyrography” (literally: “playful verse” + “fire writing”) for sale and exhibition. In these latter works, word meets wood as custom typographical designs of individual poems are then burned by hand into bespoke pieces of wood, a form of radical self-publishing currently practiced by no one else I can find. I welcome commissions and ideas collaboration. Let’s talk.
Materials: basswood (Tilia americana), linseed oil Dimensions: 11.75” x 10.5” x 1.75”
Materials: blue mahoe (Talipariti elatum) Dimensions: 11.5” x 3” x 2.5”
Materials: basswood (Tilia americana) Dimensions: 11” x 8” x 0.75”
Materials: canarywood (Centrolobium spp.) Dimensions: 19” x 4” x 0.75” Assist: La Matriarca Woodworkings (wood prep)
Materials: pine (Pinus ponderosa) Dimensions: 36” x 18” x 0.75” Assist: Danté Williams (pyrography)
Materials: sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) Dimensions: 6” x 6” x 2”
Materials: western red cedar (Thuja plicata) Dimensions: 9.5” x 5” x 2”
Materials: western red cedar (Thuja plicata) Dimensions: 11” x 8” x 4.5”
brasswax.com/haiku-pyrography
BRASSWAX is the composer of The Mirror of Simple Souls (an opera collaboration with Canadian poet Anne Carson) and the author of almost 100 published poems. Originally from the Detroit area, he received his MFA in Poetry from the University of Michigan and now lives in Seattle, where he writes, publishes, and records, as well as performing and exhibiting visual work around the Pacific Northwest. He proudly offers “wage-gap pricing” (i.e. 20% off for women, 40% off for POC) on all haiku pyrography pieces to individual clients, and you can find his work online at brasswax.com/haiku-pyrography or connect on social media (Instagram, Facebook, X: @brasswax).