NEW YORK – Beyond the Blockade: Seeking Beauty in Melancholy, via New Ballad Publishing, is the debut poetry collection from multidisciplinary artist Ketmanee. The book is a journey of growth exploring the dualities of identity, desire, sexuality, and manifestations of the ego. The collection is structured as a poetic symphony, further invoking passionate musings of pain and time.
Written from the perspective of a young lover with an old soul, Beyond the Blockade is provocative yet contemporary, romantic yet tragic. Ketmanee indulges the reader with her interpretation and perception of age-old philosophical ideals of aesthetic theory, existentialism, love, lust, and metaphysics while simultaneously opening up broader questions for examination.
What sets this work apart from other sensual poetry musings is the lyricism prominent throughout this collection. Each piece is rhythmic in itself, and when combined with Ketmanee’s appreciation of the classical music world, her words read like music. Beyond her poignant writing style, she acknowledges the classical greats: “Pathétique” is a nod to Tchaikovsky’s final completed symphony, and “Odile” is an ode to the alluring mystique of Swan Lake’s titular counterpart.
Scattered throughout its pages are abstract illustrations by up-and-coming artist Michael Barr Waltz. These evocative images are visual representations of Ketmanee’s words, chosen with as much thought and purpose as the author’s language. Together, they transport the reader into the metaphysical: an exploration of the physical senses, the profound, and the intimate.
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Ketmanee is an artist and poet based in New York. An old soul, her works in poetry, art direction, film, and installation design encompass philosophies of beauty and human connection while evoking a unique sensuality. Ketmanee has produced short films, represented both visual and musical artists in the fine art, singer-songwriter, electronic, and trip-hop realms, and assumed various roles in the arts and media industries as an art advisor, artist manager, PR consultant, and marketer.
Beyond the Blockade is now available in both paperback and eBook. To learn more about Ketmanee, visit www.ketmanee.com.
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