Bold collages by Michael Rosen highlighted
Most Ohioans know Michael J. Rosen as a writer, poet, editor, publisher of books and the former (and founding) literary director of Thurber House.
Rosen also applies his vision and skills to the visual arts. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he has been creating collage still lifes — albeit with a swimming goldfish or an intrusive bulldog here and there. He is showing his works in his first solo art exhibit at the Sharon Weiss Gallery in the Short North.
“COVID has given me the chance to realize that I am by nature a collagemaker,” Rosen, 66, said. “Even with writing poetry, children’s books, anthologies — much of my work has been composing and editing. With these works, too, I gather things, gather more things, make a selection, and then another selection.”
Rosen’s subjects are often flowers, plants and fruits that he recreates in a variety of mediums including ink, charcoal, acrylics, printmaking. He takes scissors to his images, cuts them apart and reassembles them in what he describes as a fun, puzzle-making activity.
The results are colorful, lively floral scenes such as the vivid blue blossoms in “A Fleeting Performance of Egyptianblue Tulips” or the goldfish circling a striped vase in “Striped Vase with Passing Goldfish.” Ancient icons and a modern pooch cohabit in “Greek Still Life With French Bulldog Photo Bomb.”
Rosen, who grew up in the Berwick neighborhood of Columbus, now lives on forested land 40 miles east of Columbus in Perry County. He suffers from a rare auto-immune disease and said that there are many things that he cannot do.
But, he said, “art is near and dear to me. If I wake up and don’t feel well, I can still do art.”
negilson@gmail.com