American River Review 2019 - Flipbook - Page 9
Prologue
Art of any medium is birthed through thick, hopeful skin, jolts of
unease seeping outward between tightly gripped palms and wide,
brimming eyes. The goal, often enough, is simply to be understood.
Ironically, the human conundrum is to be understood by anyone who
needs help understanding themselves—here arises the beauty of our
work, comprising American River College’s 32nd edition of American
River Review. Stories, photographs, poems, and illustrations, all that
bind us as one, float through tides of pencil scratches and the clicks
of our collective consciousness. These captured moments notched in
time tie us together with wishes of ears and eyes to borrow. Those that
need help understanding themselves seek art, seek a particular sort of
feeling from a sculpture, an estranged mood they haven’t been able to
recapture until this very moment, something outside of themselves that
belonged within this whole time.
-Kaycie Barr
In this magazine I hope we have instilled the love and need to create
that drive us forward. That in these works of art, both visual and
literary, you see not only the power which we as humans have granted
these shapes, but the power and legacy they may grant us in return.
May we smell the rain water on the red wheelbarrow for as long as we
hear the havoc in Guernica, and may this magazine always be a beacon
to writers and artists alike.
-Marcie Mallory
American River Review
VII