Looking at Something in a Fresh and Surprising Way: "Ode on a Grayson Urn" and "The Map Woman" Sidra Aman Vohra 12th Grade

Tim Turnbull’s "Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn" celebrates Grayson Perry – a ceramic artist who stealthily comments on societal injustices and hypocrisies through his art. It, instead of criticizing, glorifies the lives of the group of young individuals in imitation of Perry, who is known for addressing and elevating disturbing ideas through beautiful means. Turnbull celebrates their youth, courage and rebellious nature – something that is often put down and made to seem destructive. Carol Ann Duffy’s "The Map Woman," too, takes on an idea and approaches it in a surprising way. She takes the idea of nostalgia and makes it tangible – in the form of a map on a woman’s body. Duffy pairs an unlikely premise with detailed realism allowing the underlying metaphor to shine through: that we are forever marked by our past.

Turnbull’s ode revolves greatly around the themes of beauty and materialism and how they are perceived in today’s society. He finds beauty in their recklessness and materialistic natures. The lives of today’s youth, a never-ending cycle of obsessive vanities and ‘courageous’ actions, are elevated to a near regal status as is done with the ‘Queen’s highway’ that they often congregate on to create ‘bedlam’. The possibility...