This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Arts & Entertainment

Words Become Images in 'Scenes From a Book'

East End Arts Council exhibit draws on the literary to create extraordinary.

On Sept. 10 the East End Arts Council opened "Scenes From a Book," a juried show of photographs drawn entirely from literature, from classics such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to Cormac McCarthy's recent post-apocalyptic vision, The Road. Even a grammar instruction book inspired art.

McCarthy's novel inspired the Best in Show – Shoreham resident Rich Wozniak's  somber photo shot from the interior of an antique Mack truck looking out on a grey, misty, foreboding landscape captured the mood of the story.

"I discovered that truck in a field off Exit 65 of the LIE (Long Island Expressway)," said Wozniak. "And the grey day was perfect. If it had been sunny it would not have had the same effect."

Find out what's happening in Riverheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

His wife, Joan Wozniak, had produced her own striking, solemn work. "Subway Sojourner," a woman in standing in a subway car, seemed to look both inward and outward, with an expression that said she was either beginning or ending a day filled with the distasteful exhaustion of a job that was spiritless.

Diane Woodcheke's  portrait "The Baby Goat" brightened the mood, which projected both innocence and knowing. Somewhat cryptically, the Calverton photographer's inspiration had been drawn from Reading Mastery II, an instruction book dedicated to teaching the basics of grammar and syntax. Woodcheke also has two other works in the show.

Find out what's happening in Riverheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Nancy Sherl's abstract "Cosmic Qi," an honorable mention, drew from Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles. "It gives the feeling, I think, of humans going to Mars," she said.

East Islip resident Vic Carlin's old U.S. flag draped outside a window against a building wall of cracked paint evoked both nostalgia and sadness. Carlin's photo drew from Born on the Fourth of July, Ron Kovic's autobiography following a life from Vietnam veteran to antiwar activist. Karen George Mortimore brought from The Wizard of Oz sand falling from an hourglass with the Wicked With reflected in its shape. Barbara M. Schneider's photo of a turtle (inspired by A Fragile Paradise), had been taken from a display at the Museum of Natural History, though the photographer occupies herself with living turtles—she has several at home.

The photo by Rocky Point's Howard Stevens, titled and inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, showed a child standing solitary in front of a waterfall - ironically, in the middle of New York City. The girl, however, sports a blue dress and white sweater, just like the famous protagonist.

"She just stepped right into the scene," said Stevens. "I took the picture. And then she was gone."

The exhibition at the East End Arts Council runs until Oct. 8.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?