Raster Jones

The Guardian Angel of Grant Wood's American Gothic

Dress for the life,

to tend to the seeds' needs.

And seasons change regardless: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall.

The devil's in the details

and God's in overalls.

Interview

TSTmpj:   I assume Grant Wood might be one of your favourite painters?  Do you wish to share any thoughts further to your poem on your perception of him, and or his art?

Raster Jones:  I do like Wood's work a great deal. This particular painting is fascinating, though, in many ways because it has become iconic, or we might say that it has become partly iconic. People know the painting; but for many the painting is just those two figures, when, obviously, there is so much more to be seen, so much more going on: the painting is named for the house in the background, after all.

TSTmpj:   The relation between visual art and poetry seems to be becoming more popular.  Are there any perhaps lesser known Galleries in South Carolina that you would recommend as perhaps offering visiting poets inspiration?

Raster Jones:  I recommend spending time in the Native American Studies Archive, if you find yourself near the USC-Lancaster campus. Beyond that, I think that posing this question - and, thereby, getting poets to think a bit about this, no matter where they are - is more important than any answer I could give. We should, as poets, be seeking out narratives of lives lived in "lesser known" places and the ways in which folks try to express those lives: paintings in small town galleries, for instance. I feel inspired to inquire about art galleries in any small towns I visit from now on. Thank you for that.

TSTmpj:   Are you fond of Gothic architecture?  Have you any thoughts to share on it?

I very much like the house in the painting. But the above questions made me first think of Poe conjuring his castles in the American landscape. "Gothic" has always suggested weighty and cold to me: which is not the first impression I have of the house in the painting, but, maybe, it is the second.

Bio Note

Raster Jones lives in South Carolina, USA. His poems have appeared in several venues, most recently in Four and Twenty.