JOSHUA HESTER

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Whispers From Illyria (2022-24)
Poems for Contemplation




I

The body
from earth to sky
Fills with light
everything floats up
and out
and down
                           

III
a mind speaks
from a cave

the stable mountain
sways in the wind





V


   
the kids feet
patter on the oak floor
shrouded in laughter

a young girl refuses
to loosen her laces   






When Herons Speak (2025)
Poems from Brazil


The farm occupies a unique place in my dreamland. I often visualize Dora as a lotus leaf with the edges of a banana tree. Next to Dora is I, a lotus seed, lean and sharply sculptured by the mountain winds. Lost in translation, I am held dearly in the middle of my Mum's palm. 
    So when He tells me stories from the farm, building the landscape of that dreamland, I can never grasp how I grew on this side of the world. I would pass Dora every morning on that walk through the farmland on the way to our blue hut. It was in that hut that Mum would close her gentle fire and breathe. 


 After the unjust scoldings from the inner city few, lost in translation, we covered our faces and hands with blankets as the town passed through us. Even at One, stumbling along cobbled Belo streets holding Mum’s hand I knew she would not mind if I began to surface, all those wonderful things from the darkness.




Effortless Books
Essay



This study explores the concept of ‘wu wei’ in Daoist philosophy, similar to the idea of ‘flow,’ and how, as artists, we can apply its wisdom to the creative process.
        The aim is to, first, explain the fundamental ideas of Daoism, making it accessible for contemporary Western understanding and creative application. Then, to shed light on what I have learnt through my own experience. Regardless of the gap in time between the words originally spoken and the people reading them today, it resonates wholly with our modern, mundane life. 
    By introducing and then applying these principles to my creative practice, through analysis and reflection, I aim to open you up to ways of experimenting with your own.

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