Weightless: Poetry and Art of Perseverance

Publisher Marketing: "Weightless"originally began as an homage to the patients and loved ones I had the privilege to meet while working as a direct caregiver on an Infectious Disease Unit during the mid-late 1990s. I had come across the book, "Living with AIDS," a photographic journal by Sal Lopes (Bullfinch Press, copyright 1994), and many of the images seemed personally iconic to me, representative for so many lives which had touched mine. The more I began "collaging images" from the book in watercolor paintings, for some reason I found myself also delving into the theme of the series (love, loss), in a universal and historical context. In other words, the AIDS crisis was another facet of the ageless struggle for humanity on a personal and global level. I found the series incorporating classical themes such as "Liebestod" mixed in with documented examples of the struggle for perseverance: Kosovo refugees, Anne Frank and Auschwitz, soldiers from any time, any place, bandaged and attempting to recover from wounds. Mixed in with these grave themes, the medium of working in watercolor itself brought images of cleansing and healing. Eventually I made a short collage-film of this series, using photocopies of the paintings, converting them to sepia and adding the static of nostalgic movie reels with subtitles for the poem that came from the art. This book goes back to the source of the original paintings juxtaposed against the film stills in hopes of forming a cohesive whole regarding not just the creative process but how one can take suffering and perhaps find transformative powers for grace. There is no hierarchy when it comes to all the different varieties there are of pain and its challenges. "Weightless" was created as a small ultimately light-filled testament to that. Contributor Bio:  Mead, Stephen In the 1990s Stephen Mead's poems began appearing in literary journals, but after moving to Massachusetts, Stephen concentrated on painting. In 2000 Stephen started seeking publication again for his writing and art combined. Since then his work has appeared internationally. In 2004 Stephen began experimenting with poetry/art hybrids, creating award winning e-books such as "Heroines Unlikely." From there Stephen began experimenting with his art/poems as films. In 2006 Stephen released a CD of poems set to music, "Safe & Other Love Poems," (CDBaby.com), as well as three DVDs, (Indieflix.com). In 2007, print editions of his novels, art and poetry began being distributed by Amazon.com and Blurb.com.