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DREAMS: PAUL OTERO

In this complete (but unpublished) book of finished poems written in the last years of his life, Don responds in poetry to the artwork of Paul Otero (c 2015). The two had also collaborated in the same way on the earlier book "Handwork" published by Kearney State College Press in 1978.

As a series, these images create a unique conversation that lifts Don Welch’s verse out of our mundane world and instills a hallucinogenic, mystical and fantasy-oriented element that may evade a simple glance - all while working predominantly in grey-scale. Furthermore, this seems to support Otero’s emphasis on dreams:

“Dreams are multi-layered expressions. They entail mysterious worlds of hallucinogenic realities ~ beautiful and disturbing to the waking world. Their presence shocks language to a kind of paralysis that is incapable of decoding, speaking through nuanced poetic imagery: dreams in transit ~ slipping past the reason of visibility. Dreams defy reason beyond the language of appearances.” 

Through his pieces, we see bridges and connections created between the written and visual, but also between our consciousness and perceptions of the world around us.

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