Spotlight: Gregory James Wyrick

regory James is one of my favorite people.  Several years ago, he patiently nurtured my adolescent notion of writing poetry and encouraged me to awaken my muse, enduring many messages and emails. We met in person a couple of times, and have remained friends through Social Media.  To that end, I shall always be grateful.  

His greatest project (my humble opinion) is The Method Learned, which is an "international multi-medium collaborative endeavor of audio and visual translations," which attempt to "highlight various slices of the human experience; experiences that connect us together and that may serve as a catalyst for the sublime revelation of being alive to be realized."  


Beautiful. 

...And, let's be real.  I really don't know anyone else who can work the word "ekphrastic" into a sentence.

From THE METHOD LEARNED collection

BIO: Gregory James Wyrick is an author, artist, photographer and musician currently based in Detroit. His written work has been interpreted in various audio and visual forms by international artists through the ongoing ekphrastic project: The Method Learned. A collection of his written work of the same name was published in 2012. His photography has recently shown at Odditorium Detroit, Merge Gallery, The Dirty Show, and The Damned Show exhibitions. Collections of his photography include "Fractured Landscapes", "Les Jardins De La Mort" and "Night Flowers" with Tamara Heaton. 

Contact:  methodlearned@gmail.com

Author's spotlight: LULU

His written work has recently been featured in Antique Children Literary Journal, The Surreal Grotesque and the Into The Valley of Hinnom anthology. The Method Learned

Follow Gregory on  Red Bubble ~ 

or on Facebook

Purchase amazing art and poetry at Blurb Store

For some true mischief check this out:  http://antiquechildren.com/journal.html

Following are samples of his original photography, and [dark] poetry.  I have permission by Artist to publish this on my blog. Please be reminded [and respectful] that All Rights are Reserved.  These photos and poems are copyright, and will require permission to post, re-post or publish!  

 

Never by Darkness Restrained 

(Taken from The Method Learned)

I was compelled to deconstruct her graces delicately… 

 By meter and by limb, 

 For her true beauty lies yet undiscovered 

 Behind the veils of those angelic hymns

And even when bathed in night’s starless rays, 

 It’s eternal glow remains… 

Never aging, never fading… 

And never by darkness restrained.

~G. James Wyrick

The Ghost you Gave 

(taken from the forthcoming book: When The Day Takes)

…Not on the equinox of tender mercies, 

Nor in the arms of summer’s radiant dispatch… 

Not under the cloak of autumn’s decay ballet, 

 Nor gathered at the nave of winter’s haunted mass…

No… I don’t think we shall ever again meet…

Not in some perfection of heaven, 

 Nor adrift amid a diamond sea… 

 Nor gathered safely in a surrendered embrace, 

Nor slumbered inside a twilighted obscurity. 

Your blossoms are scatter about the ground 

Forming a phantom-limbed wedding gown…

No, we shall ever meet again…

Trembling, Severing divinity And Lost upon a flame.

~G. James Wyrick

BOOK REVIEW for THE METHOD LEARNED, 

by Tamara Heaton, Anthropologist, Political Activist and Actress

"The most crucial aspect of the artistic process is that the end result resonates to some part of our own humanity, reminding us that we are here - that we exist together even in solitude - in the pulchritude and the horror that we recognize as life. 

Art simultaneously creates order from chaos and chaos from order, perfectly defining the mania of our journey. 

The works in this compilation by Gregory James Wyrick accomplish all of these things and more. 

He leads you by the hand, blindfolds you and thrusts you over a cliff, while breaking your fall with delicate arms and soft, feverish kisses upon your forehead."

Caricature by Pat Hornstein

Finally, I cannot end today's post by NOT including one of Gregory James' most fascinating projects.  He is collecting scars. The project is called "VENUS VIVISECTION" – CALL FOR SCAR SUBMISSIONS FOR UPCOMING BOOK.

"The aim of this book:

1. To present a visual document showing that ALL women are sacred and beautiful.

2. To present the various scars on the bodies of women as badges of honor, affirmations of life and survival; postcards from the past denoting the process of living. This would include accident scars, disease-related scars, organ transplant scars, suicide attempt scars. Etc.

3. To starkly highlight the sacrifices that women are expected to make and endure based on being female. These would include birthing scars, cesarean scars…

4. To show what we, as a collective whole, do in regards to trying to obtain images and concepts of physical beauty. These would include plastic surgery scars, body modification scars, as well as all self-inflicted scars.

5. To highlight these scars as a physical manifestation worn in the flesh as evidence of the divine energy that ALL women possess."

"The book’s content will primarily consist of self-shot black and white still photography of women between the ages of 18 and 90 in portrait style showing their scars. The scars will range from the barely visible to the very large; scars ranging from minor injuries to those from major surgery and everything in between. This book’s purpose is to serve as a tribute to and celebration of all women who wear the scars proudly as representations of their conquests, their survival, their suffering, and their life experiences, etc."

Gregory James Wyrick