SAUDADE

Saudade consists of torn pages from The Godfather, by Mario Puzo, in Italian. Its very first page quotes Honoré de Balzac, "Behind every great fortune, there is a crime".

These pages have been letter-stamped by hand individually, with a poem I authored. The poem is on lust and love, which speaks to the idea of 'Love is Madness', as Petrarch quotes — "True, we love life, not because we are used to living, but because we are used to loving. There is always some madness in love, but there is also always some reason in madness".

These pages are accompanied by found medium-format digital prints (from the analog original negatives), which were chosen to complement the poetry. Finally, the sheets are dusted in a golden powder, for a sense of delicateness and intimate preciousness, working as a memento, for the gold stays on the hands of the viewer. The Godfather was an opportune choice, which in my head I connected with Michael losing his first wife and leading him into madness. 

Saudade

I want to talk about it 
I want to talk about him
 
without being criticized.
with
being understood 

You? I judge 
your? myself 

I wish to be encouraged 
Instead of frowned upon 

frowned upon. 

I want your 
comfort I 

want 
to stay but 

Slender 
elegant 
strong

they lean on to create 
beauty out of powdered 
mineral rocks 

I want his genius 
I want it with? for? with myself

his neck 

Like
Parfait 
with 
raspberries 

I want 
TO 
push 

bite sting 

mischievous 
lips 

Nibble 

arrogant chest 

Lay

But
there is you 

And I 
reprehend myself.

Saudade (2018, medium format prints, letterpress, and gold dust on torn book pages)