Michael Kuch: Lemons Descending

Lemons Descending 0f 2001 was a musical collaboration with cellist Matt Haimovitz and composer Luna Woolf, performed by soprano Eileen Clark and Haimovitz himself. The music of the album inspired the fine-art book Lemons Descending: Music, Poetry, Etchings by Oxingale press. The book of poems—previously set to music by various composers—features original color etchings by Michael Kuch, whose interpretations create a visual counterpoint to the compositions. Images blend archetype with animal and human forms: presenting a cellist playing a long crucifix and a bird with spread wings bears the legs and arms of a crucified Christ. The illustrations to Pablo Neruda’s eponymous poem, Ode to the Lemon, are as unorthodox and original as the title.