Particles of Light (1979)

Particles of Light was the first of Kaplan's Artist's Book, created in 1979. The woodcut print images were created from deeply felt personal experiences. A direct statement was forged using black and white shapes and lines, with the intent of saying more with less. The poetry is not the definitive word interpretation of the images. Nor is the image an illustration of the poetry. Both stand on their own, yet are related.

The artist was past fifty at the time. The poet in his late twenties. The difference in the observation of the life cycle is of perceptual significance. (Stan Kaplan)

The poems that appear in this collection were written as an honest response to the images created by the artist in the woodcuts. It was an added inspiration to know that many of these images coincided with my own experiences of family life, and to that process by which we grow grey and leave fingerprints on the genes of our grandchildren.

Still, it is not a simple task to choose words that adecuqtely call a visual connotation. I have tried, whenever possible, not to define, but to imply and suggest, to drift and dream around the artist's meaning. (Dennis Bernstein)