Earths Grow Thick

Emily Dickinson's poems stand alone in the English language in their severe yet wild shapeliness and unhindered dexterity of thought. In Earths Grow Thick, the American artist Roni Horn put those poems--or lines from them--to new uses, incorporating her words in a series of austere, stick-like sculptures. Horn makes similar use of William Blake, but her sympathy with the work of Dickinson is clear, and results in a beautiful form or word sculpture. This handsome catalogue is published in conjunction with the first exhibition to present the four bodies of Horn's work comprising the Dickinson sculptures. The illustrations are complemented by texts ranging from Judith Fox's interview with Horn to bell hooks' intimate recollections of her childhood introduction to Dickinson's work.