🎨 Ekphrasis

According to the Oxford Dictionary, Ekphrasis is the use of detailed description of a work of visual art as a literary device. That indicates, using art as a source of inspiration, a starting point for a larger piece or simply imagining what the artist is doing outside of the painting.

A few examples are Homer's Shield of Achilles from The Iliad, John Keats's Ode on a Grecian Urn, and "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" by William Carlos Williams. We can therefore conclude that ekphrasis is a form of writing that has been used for a long time, from Greek literature to the classics.

Ekphrasis is a great way to 'break the ice', that is get inspiration when you are stuck. Not only that, writing can also be inspired by other forms of art like music and dance. Or vice-versa.

This form of writing also emphasises the connection between writing and other forms of art. I often look at paintings to get ideas.

I also usually research the context of the painting and who the painter was, to get an idea of what really is going on in the piece. After that I spent a while just observing the details. Even the smallest detail can make the story or poem really different.

One drawback of ekphrasis can be that it tends to be long-winded descriptions of the artwork in question. While the description matters, it is important to also imagine what could be going on in the picture.

How can you go about this?

If you are a writer then you could choose a painting that you love, and then write a story or a poem based on that. Another way you could do it, would be to write based on an imaginary painting, or an artist working on it. One thing I have tried at a writing competition, was to pretend that the topic given was set in a painting, and then build on that. It need not be just visual art. If you have a favourite song or you like dancing, then write it based on that!

If you are an artist, you could do it the other way around. Choose a story or poem or dance form or song you like and do some visual art based on that!

You could even try collaborating with a friend! One of you could do the art, and another can write a story based on it. Or vice-versa. For more information on this check out one of our previous posts titled 'Writing With A Friend'.

As always, feel free to submit your creations.

Until next time!

~Elaine Elizabeth Jinto
Editor-in-Chief