Pelican Island Times Three

This beautiful piece by Mike Dyar arrived a week or so ago.  I don't think I have traded with Mike before.Why not?! I have no context.  The postmark is San Francisco, so I just look and hold and let my mind wander across the imagery and words…

This piece is haptic, curious, moving and strong.  It has a slightly funny smell which I think is ink.  The back of the A3 image is black with memories of paper clips, pressed onto the surface.  I muse that Mike has painted a color print on the back with ink and it has seeped through to create something bleak.

Pelican island, I think, is home to Alcatraz.  I used to live in the Bay area and went to Altcatraz in about 2006 with my family, maybe before when I was lived nearby.  I have a (false) memory of driving around the island in a boat with Stanford friends. We loved the visit, but it was creepy. I wasn't really sure why I was there.

The letter feels like a message in a bottle.  The ink is watery.  The text is confessional. Not every mail artist is willing or able to conjure real emotion. Is that what Mike - conceptual Art is? So here we are in isolation, not quite like Alcatraz, at least not for me, but maybe for Mike? 

Thanks you! I will reply as soon as I can.