A visual representation of "Thinking of Work" by James Shea
LAU Chuk Yee
St. Paul's Convent School
My artwork is created to present my interpretation of the poem in a simple way.
In ‘Thinking of Work’, words are used to present the after-storm work as a surgical or mechanical repair.
With the use of simple words and a lack of additional details that leave ambiguity,
I decided that simple art would fit best. The mood of the poem is light so I avoided using colours that might disrupt that.
The colours chosen may also be garish or artificial. The vocabulary about the repair work reminds me of a simulated or fake world,
so I attempted to reflect that and potentially create unease, as if something was amiss.
The repair work looks half-finished – the poet speaks of all the work to do after the storm,
yet he hasn’t completed it, thus I made this artistic choice. These are the explanations behind this work.
I hope it will bring a new perspective to the poem.
Thinking of Work
A brief storm
blew the earth clean.
There was much
to do: sun to put up,
clouds to put out,
blue to install,
limbs to remove,
grass to implant.
(The grass failed.
We ordered new grass.)
A limb cracked
in half in the short storm,
short with its feeling.
We saw its innards,
all the hollow places.
Something flew out of
the window and then
the window flew out of the window
James Shea
“Thinking of Work” was published in The Lost Novel by James Shea, p.2. Copyrights © 2014 by James Shea.