Portfolio: Recyclable Materials

With this particular body of work I gathered one month of recyclables from our family’s household bin and manipulated them into floral forms that I composed in the tradition of the still...

A Visit from the Bereavement Committee

There is still part of me that wants to iron my cloth napkins. In truth, most of them are stained and stashed in a basket in my laundry room at this moment, hidden from the bereavement...

Appearance Versus Reality in Food Styling

A food stylist is the person on a photoshoot, commercial, or film who is in charge of the food. It’s a specialized department under the wing of the art or prop department due to the...

Sonia and the Gringo

One can reflect on the turns that a life takes. Who would ever have thought that I would have ended up here? And, as a foreigner, a guest among them in a country that has opened its arms to...

In a Moment

Audrey wondered if three seconds was enough time for regret. But the longer she stared out the window, the more her eyes felt inside out, and she could no longer see what she was looking at...

The Masks We Wear

Mask training does the exact opposite of what one might imagine. A mask does not cover up who you are. It reveals. Mask training helped me uncover the multitude of characters within me.

Returning Home to the American South

The South is a dichotomy. A catch-22. A riddle within a riddle. On the one hand, the South is totally confident in what it believes, and on the other it is still trying to determine its...

Perception Versus Reality: Lifestyle Blogging

We Southern women are expected to be “put together.” With hair fixed, makeup on, in a presentable outfit, and with perfectly coordinated jewelry and accessories.

Fragile Strengths: Thoughts on Aging

Growing old has changed in the twenty-first century. As one ages there is potential to replenish one’s capacity for positive change and access untapped strengths. It seems open to new...

The tension between appearance and reality is explored in its vastly varied forms by the writers and artists in our summer issue. In an age of competitive lifestyle and food blogging, what are the artifices to which we resort to produce the perfect, enviable image? In a culture that aspires to eternal youth, how does an artist manipulate the camera lens to come to terms with her own aging? In a wasteful world, how does trash become treasure? From the universal to the regional, from traditional Balinese face masks to the contradictions of the American South, where keeping up appearances is almost a cultural imperative, this diverse collection of essays is as entertaining as it is profound.