Forms of Devotion

the long version

Diane Schoemperlen's Forms of Devotion, her new collection of illustrated stories, tests the bounds of her craft, creating an arresting and readable work that is also a treat for the eye. The illustrations, selected by the author, are wood engravings and line drawings from the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. The subtle interplay of words and images creates a backdrop for Schoemperlen's witty and intelligent exploration of devotion in its many forms: devotion to material objects and daily rituals, to the pleasure's of the body and the pains of romantic love, and even to the delicious stability of the status quo. The result is a playful, sometimes surreal, and often mysterious juxtaposition of a historical fascination with anatomy and classical themes and Schoemperlen's contemporary fascination with everyday people, places, and things.