Veiled Vicissitudes

Masks and masquerades lure me into a speculative trance. Whether a procession of dissimulation, a parade of impersonation, or a pageantry of revelation, I marvel at the transformative tendencies they gift the bearer. Here is a series of impressions along the canals in Venice, recent arrivals in my overcrowded inbox.



I have scrolled through these motionless performances...peering, unsuccessfully, attempting to discern a trace, a trait, a telltale of the hidden. However, my attempts to expose that which was masked were mere exorcisms of the imaginary. The most rewarding task turned out to be a fathoming of the facades themselves. I settled for surface readings, and absorbed every fold of the costumed spectacles...the textures of coyness, temptation, seduction, pride, insecurity, arrogance, loneliness, apprehension, deference and more...posing and posturing alongside the gondolas and bridges...islands of sinew and silk dotting the Adriatic aqua-scape. These Venetian visages...I envy their camouflage.