Flayed origami butterflies

Abstract

Graphic novels and poetry are two artistic forms that are rarely brought together, but when they do combine the results can be powerful. Hoax – Psychosis Blues, by Ravi Thornton, is one such project, combining the poetry of the author's brother, who has a diagnosis of schizophrenia, with illustrations, linked together with vignettes from their life together. Each of the nine poems is illustrated by a different artist, whereas Life, the linking sections told from Ravi's point of view are all illustrated by Leonardo Giron. There is an incredible range of artistic styles, from the phantasmagoric frenzy of Mark Stafford's paranoid Roach Psychiatry to the playful style Julian Hanshaw uses to illustrate the childlike whimsy of Polaris and Me. The artists use a variety of techniques to complement the words, whether creating juxtapositions between word and image or making the metaphor explicit, shaping the pace and flow of the words around their imagery.The poetry itself covers a range of emotional hues, often in the space of a single short piece. Wallflower opens with the line “Make me feel gauche and I will fantasise about splitting your head with a hammer”, but ends on a far more gentle note, the unnerving brutality gone in an instant. Rhyme is used sparingly, rendering it more effective when it is used, but the emphasis is on imagery and exploration of the poet's subjective experience rather than on formal techniques.Psychosis Blues creates a multi-layered depiction of schizophrenia: Roach Psychiatry depicts a terrifying vision of doctors doing cruel experiments in nightmarishly distorted hospitals, though this is far less unsettling than are other parts of the book. Rather it is the sense of blankness that Rob displays in the real world sequences that disturbs and the impression that he is only partly present in this world. His conversation is oddly tangential to the topic at hand, and when he talks about how his thoughts churn and froth it provokes a far more profound unease.However, beneath the horror and blankness of Rob's state we find an intelligent and perceptive young man dealing with a world he finds base and broken, or in his own words “This cruel and stinking society flays origami butterflies'. Psychosis Blues leaves the impression of the poet as a man struggling to make sense of facets of the world that many of us take for granted. Graphic novels and poetry are two artistic forms that are rarely brought together, but when they do combine the results can be powerful. Hoax – Psychosis Blues, by Ravi Thornton, is one such project, combining the poetry of the author's brother, who has a diagnosis of schizophrenia, with illustrations, linked together with vignettes from their life together. Each of the nine poems is illustrated by a different artist, whereas Life, the linking sections told from Ravi's point of view are all illustrated by Leonardo Giron. There is an incredible range of artistic styles, from the phantasmagoric frenzy of Mark Stafford's paranoid Roach Psychiatry to the playful style Julian Hanshaw uses to illustrate the childlike whimsy of Polaris and Me. The artists use a variety of techniques to complement the words, whether creating juxtapositions between word and image or making the metaphor explicit, shaping the pace and flow of the words around their imagery. The poetry itself covers a range of emotional hues, often in the space of a single short piece. Wallflower opens with the line “Make me feel gauche and I will fantasise about splitting your head with a hammer”, but ends on a far more gentle note, the unnerving brutality gone in an instant. Rhyme is used sparingly, rendering it more effective when it is used, but the emphasis is on imagery and exploration of the poet's subjective experience rather than on formal techniques. Psychosis Blues creates a multi-layered depiction of schizophrenia: Roach Psychiatry depicts a terrifying vision of doctors doing cruel experiments in nightmarishly distorted hospitals, though this is far less unsettling than are other parts of the book. Rather it is the sense of blankness that Rob displays in the real world sequences that disturbs and the impression that he is only partly present in this world. His conversation is oddly tangential to the topic at hand, and when he talks about how his thoughts churn and froth it provokes a far more profound unease. However, beneath the horror and blankness of Rob's state we find an intelligent and perceptive young man dealing with a world he finds base and broken, or in his own words “This cruel and stinking society flays origami butterflies'. Psychosis Blues leaves the impression of the poet as a man struggling to make sense of facets of the world that many of us take for granted.