Joni Tevis's concern is with the precise relationship of components in the world: how one element in an environment interacts with others. How does the antique taxidermy in a natural science museum relate to the living birds outside the window? How do the opals found by campers, stored in mineral oil to conserve the water trapped inside, relate to the water table? My practice is observation. How do relationships illuminate? Using such models as Joseph Cornell's box constructions, crazy quilts, and specimen displays, Tevis places fragments in relationship to each other in order to puzzle out lost histories, particularly those of women. Throughout The Wet Collection, the narrator navigates the peril and excitement of an outward journey complicated by an inward longing for home.
- ISBN10 1571318941
- ISBN13 9781571318947
- Publish Date 19 November 2012 (first published 14 June 2007)
- Publish Status Active
- Imprint Milkweed Editions
- Format eBook
- Pages 192
- Language English