 "Photo: Courtesy of Jeff Pastorek")
New Orleans is a city of conflicting duality.
Cosmopolitan art, cuisine, music and nightlife compete for headlines against a staggering murder rate. Antebellum mansions share a fence with decaying tenement houses.
Patrick Strange and Erik Kiesewetter, creative and editing directors of "Constance: Delicate Burdens," a book showcasing the paintings, photography, poetry and prose of New Orleans and New Orleans-connected artists, understand this duality.
"There is a sort of pleasure and pain living here," Strange said. "No one who is living here would be able to overlook the basic living standard. New Orleans is a double-edged sword."
It's this masochism that inspired the theme of "Constance."
In his introduction to the book, Strange says, "'Delicate Burdens' comes to the difficult realization that any rebirth will be a long labored and complicated one. From this deep and often murky well of shared grief and anxiety, we've drawn the impetus for 'Delicate Burdens' - an issue that strives to be rejoiceful while also acknowledging that much suffering still persists in the region."
As a native of the New Orleans area, Strange, who moved back to the city after completing his graduate degree in 2003, understands the issues facing the city as well as the art it produces.
"You have almost a split personality living here. One day you have such strong feelings of hate for the city and the next day are rejoicing at being here."
Strange and Kiesewetter first conceived the idea for a book displaying the works of local writers and visual artists before Hurricane Katrina in spring 2005. Upon returning after the storm, the two reconvened and decided to continue working on the project.
With a renewed purpose, the concept for the first issue of "Constance" was solidified in February 2006. Later that year, "Constance: Replicas and Replacements" was printed and sold at area bookstores, galleries and other popular sites, as well as at satellite stores in cities like Portland and Los Angeles.
Strange, Kiesewetter and the small group of others who act as editors, illustrators, photographers, promoters and distributors of the project published "Delicate Burdens" 14 months later.
To Strange's pleasure, local bookstores will be hosting readings from "Constance" throughout the month.
"One of the objectives of the book is to further the artists' work and give them exposure, to give them a voice," he said.
LOYOLA SPAWNS CONSTANCE ARTIST
One of these artists is Jeff Pastorek, a Loyola alumni of 2003 and local gouachist illustrator.
"I started drawing like it was a job," Pastorek said. "Nine to five, six to 11, whatever."
Although he knew Strange and Kiesewetter before Hurricane Katrina, Pastorek answered a call for artists and submitted work to both issues.
Five of Pastorek's gouache illustrations, a painting style similar to watercolor, are featured in "Delicate Burdens." One piece, "I'll Be an Artist Soon," conveys his feelings toward art while he was a student at Loyola.
"I left (Loyola) thinking, 'I'm truly a great artist now. They have nothing more to teach me.' Something about the last year of the undergraduate degree does that to a lot of people. That's what the piece in the book is about - thinking that the amount that you drink, socialize and think about yourself makes you a good artist."
It's works like Pastorek's that contribute to the success of the book.
"When people think of New Orleans writing and art, they think of photographs of streetcars or oil paintings of the French Quarter or stories about vampires. The great thing is that these pieces still remain distinctively New Orleans without being cliche. They can be made in Chicago or Los Angeles," Strange said.
Strange hopes this ubiquitous approach causes the book's voice to be heard in the major art markets and leads to more exposure for the city.
With more than 40 artists' works included, the voices from "Constance" ring loud and hopeful.
Justin Templet can be reached at jatemple@loyno.edu.
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