Pictures, Poems, and Notes by David Edward Lenarz, Jr.
Pictures, Poems, and Notes
Bic ink pen, fragile paper
For nearly 3 1/2 years I have been incarcerated; yet, I have made every effort to live in the mindset of freedom. Every day is a therapeutic endeavor to improve. Every day, my pen creates art, poems and notes; the pen has become the tool for transformation. It honors those I've encountered here in the DOC. It keeps love alive in my family. The pen heals me, it heals us, sends out my SOS. It humbly places on display my New Heart. This piece is part of that New Heart; "On fragile paper is my fragile heart for you to see and for me to be."
Meet the artist: David Edward Lenarz, Jr.
David Edward Lenarz, Jr.
Identity Statement
I am the boat that has never seemed to be able to stay afloat; or I should say I was. Was because life has changed. I was taken apart, disassembled by life; I was broken. Identity was a scrambled mess of all the good, bad and horror the world dumped on me; I was the result of trauma and functioned behind masks. Masks fashioned to fit other people's narratives of who they wanted me to be. Sadly, those many masks failed me. Then I failed. I fell but I would not stay down. Someone saw, witnessed and expressed their vision of the me I could not see. Would not see. I decided to trust their perspective. I began to grow; I began to see me. Now, IDENTITY to me is the sum of the whole we choose to embrace. I now embrace God, Christ, The Spirit, Love, Peace, Respect, Trust, Truth, Vulnerability, Courage, Honor, Others, Hope, Self-Worth, and I embrace Faith. Most important, I embrace by all this the Right Man God gave me Purpose to be.
What role does art play in your life?
Art took me on a pilgrimage of self discovery. Each time I engaged the ink pen it moved in truth; it wrote truth; it created truth and it caused walls to crash down. With the walls removed I could no longer hide. Art became a means of exposure. It didn't matter if it was liked or disliked; art became silence and healing; art became Repair and Love. Art is the purest truth of who we are and that's why I pick up the Bic pen every day; so by art I can embrace the me God made me to be. What inspires me to create? I asked a Corrections Officer if he could look up on Google how long a continuous line a Bic pen could make. That distance is 1.2 to 1.3 miles long, and thus my chosen art medium is Bic pens and my inspiration and dream is to create a series of lines that touch the hearts of others; lines that erase lines that separate us; lines that reach the heavens; lines that tell you (the Viewer of this art) you are special, you have value, you are worthy to be loved.
