The Paintoem, Mprisond gives a raw and poignant glimpse into the isolation and despair of incarceration, contrasted with the freedom symbolized by Rapunzel; while the Paintoem format itself, represents an innovative merging of artistic mediums with a desire to make art accessible for social justice purposes.
MPRISOND
Rapunzel could let down her hair
because someone cared
Letting down my hair
I wouldn’t dare
So all I do is stare
at the bliss
of all things I miss
Mother Nature’s wonders
Cause Father Time
wants his due
and the world ain’t got a clue
Here I stare alone
in my room
cell block
Twenty-two
About the Paintoem
Poem by: C-Note
Painting by: C-Note
Mprisond is a sequel to the earlier artwork My Dilemma (2009). C-Note created this Paintoem specifically for the Escaping Time Prisoner Art Exhibit (Governor’s Island, New York, 2016), blending his stark visual art with a new poem.
C-Note was asked by the exhibition’s curator if he could create poems to be placed inside the greeting cards of his artwork being sold. Mprisond was one the initial poems featuring this unforgettable opening stanza: “Rapunzel let down her hair / because someone cared.” Later, C-Note would recognize the need for literary works by prisons, as this was a notable feature of Prison art exhibitions.
From this realization became the Paintoem, a work of art, and vignette poem, placed together, normally digital, as a single work. C-Note wanted these works to be copyright free for the public to freely use, such as grassroots activists, prison news publications, and curators of Prison art exhibitions.
A Gift to the Public: In the spirit of collaboration, the Paintoem Mprisond (like all Paintoems), is offered freely to the public with the request that the artist or artists are acknowledged.
Note: Mprisond was sold at the Through the Wall art exhibit (Los Angeles, 2016), but prints and related products are available on Fine Art America.
Celebrate a groundbreaking art form
Own a Mprisond (Paintoem) print, where visuals and poetry powerfully merge – click on the image below 👇
Interested in prints of the original Mprisond? Click on the image below 👇
