Planetaria: An Exhibition of Visual Poetry
June 8 — September 8, 2021
Planetaria, Monica’s new exhibition of astronomy-inspired visual poems will be on view at the Institute Library of New Haven from June 8 — September 8, 2021. Her new work leverages the visual language of astronomy to explore the precarious territories of motherhood, women in science, and diaspora identity. Playfully taking poetry off the page as light box assemblages and handheld volvelle poems, this series seeks to imagine the sky from a female perspective, examining the power struggles that myth-making elicits. Peruse “lost astronomy” prints made from diagrams and scientific syntax re-imagined as lyrical meditations on working motherhood and contemporary life. Explore letterpress & foil stamped Chinese constellation maps as poems that depart from gendered hierarchies towards new mythologies of the night sky. If poetry and astronomy were to throw an art party, this one invites audiences across disciplines and cultures to imagine new cosmographies where everyone belongs.
Stay tuned for exhibition events and readings this summer. Organized by curator Martha Willette Lewis. Special thanks to the Connecticut Office of the Arts, the MassMoCA Assets for Artists programs, and the Sustainable Art Foundation for their generous support of this work.
Check out this little sneak preview of “The Star Gazer,” a gold foil letterpress planisphere poem that will debut at the exhibition:
Unboxing of “The Star Gazer,” a handheld planisphere poem written and designed by Monica and produced in collaboration with Boxcar Press.