Jane, Jackson and Me

[Barrett Dorko]

Sometimes I throw sound around the band like paint and other times I feel as if I was carving silence like a sculptor.

Jane Ira Bloom

Flipping through the jazz section in the library’s CD section I found Chasing Paint; an album by Jane Ira Bloom. On the cover it says she “meets Jackson Pollock.”

At first, I misread “paint” and thought sure it said “pain,” and that’s what caught my attention. (An inventory strip had obscured the “t”) I’m also familiar with Pollock’s work. As it turns out, the artist was able to create fractal patterns manually, merging the skill of his hand, astounding vision and the unpredictable flow of dripping paint. (Ironic, huh?)

Looking further into Bloom’s work I realized my mistake but feel that things like this happen because my unconscious wants me to notice something. Then it wants me to write about it after a trip to Google. Such is my life.

The quote above from Bloom went right through me. Odd as it may seem, I try to find some order in the chaotic nature of my patient’s presentation through seemingly random comments and unexpected silence. Their behavior is only predictable to a certain extent and it’s only when I create the proper context that it might be ordered in a fashion that relieves their pain. This doesn’t mean that I impose some movement upon them but rather that I allow them to flow in a natural fashion.

Maybe I’m chasing their pain. And maybe Bloom’s playing in the background will help both of us.