Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2017SYR04
Purchase Details
11x17-inches, printed on heavy weight (100-pound) Hammermill cover paper. We package each print with a piece of chipboard in a clear plastic sleeve.
You also receive…
An information page with photos of the artist and poet, and hand-written comments from each.
Medium- and large-format posters are available by custom order. Contact us for details.
Poem Inspiration Location
Canal Side Commerce
poster information
Description
canal side commerce
briefcase, balloon, umbrella
echos of past steps
For the past few years, I have been First Mate on a canal boat called “Eriecuse.” My brother-in-law built it in his garage, but then had a hard time getting it out the door. Due to the capsizing of a rowboat that was overloaded, my brother-in-law demoted me to boat poet. I wanted to seize the opportunity by celebrating the Erie Canal on its bicentennial.
I'm from Chang Sha, from the southeastern part of China, in Hunan Province. I was familiar with the canal because in my high school we had global geography class, and they mentioned the Erie Canal as the second longest canal in the world. The longest one is the Jing-Hang Canal, from Beijing to Hangzhou.
So I was aware of the Erie Canal, but didn't really know that it goes through Syracuse. When I researched it, I saw that it went through Clinton Square, and that it really influenced people's daily life. So for the poster, I just imagined how people lived with the canal around them, and I tried to convey their emotional connections. I used a perspective that looks down on the canal, because the water itself can show passion, can show its own beauty. I wanted to present it like a face, so you see it face to face.