Next, in the retrograde reading of the Sentence, comes the trilogy All Regarding Exists, which combines three landscapes (Arizona’s, New Mexico’s and Oklahoma’s) with three Chinese types from the body of dynastic literati painting (All with the Ming, Regarding with the Sung, Exists with the Yuan). Underlying these books, along with Her, the first in the HERA sequence, are four Hindu gods: Shakti, the archetypal woman, plus the three gods of the trimurthi, Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. Shiva, who underlies Exists, is often described as the destroyer of the universe; Vishnu, who underlies Regarding, as the maintainer of the cosmic order; Brahma, who underlies All, as its creator. These Indic gods form the deepest substratum; their Greek counterparts, Hera and her three brothers, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus, the next, higher level, on which Hera represents the Earth; Hades, the Underworld; Poseidon, the Oceans; and Zeus, the Heavens. One level above, Yuan painting is a model for Oklahoma; Sung, for New Mexico; and Ming, for Arizona landscapes. Exists interweaves in situ descriptions of the Oklahoma landscape with seven portraits of Oklahomans: Susan Smith, a petroleum geologist; John Kane, a cattle rancher; Yvonne Kauger, a state supreme court justice; David Savage a “land man” (and his wife); Summer, a stripper; Robin Schultz, a poet; and Richard Beck, a philosopher.
The full text of Exists