Rat Park is the solemn first installment of Tryst a series that pairs artists and writers from
varying perspectives with the goal of clashing sharing learning and ultimately collaborating
to create a publication. Rat Park brings London based artist Katie Della-Valle and American
poet Stacy Skolnik together to reflect on their personal experiences with drug addiction.
Their work shines a flickering light on the long infectious arm of the disease departing from
the immediate suffering of addiction to focus on the devastation of living in its shadow and
the unending struggle of the recovery process. Katie Della-Valle's haunting images of empty
church basements recovery clinics and community centers are the locations of twelve-step
program meetings. Their banality reminds us of the recovering addict's everyday struggle the
counted days and minutes clean the wound healing in perpetuity. The absence of subjects in
these images is reflected in an accompanying poem by Stacy Skolnik a raw and silent shout to a
suffering relative. Rat Park refuses to conclude with optimism because recovery from addiction
is marked by constant uncertainty. Rather we are left wondering: where are those affected by
the disease right now? Have they used? Are they safe? Will they be back for another meeting?
