Visibility
– Prose Poem & Monologue by Nina Regalado & Art by Dara Lorenzo –
It’s emotional, physical, and mental.
It’s beautiful, it’s painful, it’s frustrating.
We all want to be seen.
We paint our bodies, we show our colors and we ask for people to look at us.
We hope that the ugly parts are hidden.
We lie about the scars on our bodies and the ones on our soul.
Do you see me? I’m not far from you. In fact I am right in front of you. You’re staring right at me, but you don’t see what is really happening here do you. Do you see what has happened? I have given you everything I could… Support, love, nearly everything I had. But it wasn’t good enough. You cut me out.
I wear my heart on my sleeve for you. I have given you as much as I can.
Being visible should be the easiest of them all.
Can you see what’s right in front of you? I thought I was being transparent. Apparently you can’t see past your own nose.
I see you. I see your pain, I see your need for physical attention, your need for constant clarity, your desire for complete truth, but only seeing lies laid out. I see you. But do you see me?
I’m sorry. I don’t want to be bitter anymore, I do not want to see you as this terrible thing. Because I see you.
I see the beautiful person you are, I see who you really are. I see your generosity, I laugh at our memories, I smile at your photos. I see you.
You are visible to me.
***
*Dara Lorenzo and Writer Timmy Reed have been friends since they were fourteen years old and this is their first time collaborating together for a gallery show. “Knuckleheads” is a showcase celebrating love and old friendship while at play exploring the often chaotic world that can be life in their grimy, beloved hometown, Baltimore City. The pieces in the show represent the mixed emotions that fill the city and the artists’ own personal lives: Abstraction versus clarity, textual narrative, loud statements, wild afternoons, joy, vandalism, and, hopefully, empathy. They aim to bring the audience into a world of alleys, bridges, parks, and stoops full of potential, excitement and humor, as well as frequent depression and despair. It is also just life. It is just for fun. Hey, You Knuckleheads! (T. Reed, 2020)
Nina Regalado currently resides in Georgetown, Texas. She is twenty-two and recently graduated with her Bachelors in English with a focus in Film. She is currently working on a novel and other personal writings. Follow her on Twitter @ninzreggie and Instagram @ninareg0499.
Dara Lorenzo was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1983. She attended West Virginia University for Painting, 2001-2004 and received her B.S in Printmaking from Towson University in 2008. Most recently, she has completed an MFA in Printmaking from San Francisco Art Institute. Dara’s current work explores the claiming of spaces, through treading and marking. With a focus on the expressive forms found in carving, writing, construction and deconstruction, her work discovers the way we inhabit places and change them to suit our personalities and daily lives. Dara’s latest photography project involves collaborating with strangers who interact with places in a unique way. She develops her photography pieces through a photo-intaglio print process. To read about Dara’s work and some of the San Francisco artists in her circle, please visit KQED Arts.