Greer @Pratt Brooklyn 1978

In memory of Greer Lankton...

In 1978
Greer Lankton
painted my portrait.
Greer  Lankton was
my friend.
Greer Lankton was
at once
like all of us.
And yet
not  like
any of us.

Recently
I visited
an exhibition
a“retrospective”
of Greer’s work
of her remains.

There were
her dolls
her photos
her sculptures
her paintings
her postcards
her perfume bottles               
her videos
her eyes
her glamour
her black humor
her soul                        

her pain

her memories
her memory

I heard
the curator
pontificating
to a group
of art students.
She said, “Greer always named her dolls.This was very important to her...”
Yes, I thought,then why aren’t THESE dolls named,why aren’t these works labeled,dated.Why is there no context?


I don’t believe
she knew                                                          
what she was talking about.

No longer
able to listen
I blocked her
out.

Deafening sadness
filled my ears.
Sadness
for Greer leaving.
Sadness
for all
that was
And all
that can
never be
again.

I looked
at Greer’s remains                       
through my iPhone screen
To create
distance.                

 Not sure
 if I could really
look
Or really
see
Greer’s things
That stuck
in my throat.

Greer-you were
at once
like all of us
and yet,
not like

any of us.

 

 

  

SHOULD OLD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT...

"KAREN AS A PUPPET"

GREER LANKTON

September 1978/Brooklyn , NY/ Pratt Institute

Willoughby Hall

While I waited for the elevator in the Pratt dorms,I had my first encounter with Greer Lankton. 

A rail thin , dishwater blonde blonde introduced herself in a raspy,uneven voice, "Hi,I'm Greer. I live down the hall."

We became immediate friends.I recall telling my mother that I had just met my first friend,Greer.

"But",I said, "I don't think she's really a girl."

"That's nice", my mother said.

My mother took the only photograph that I have of Greer.

...

As the story went,Greer had applied at Pratt and been accepted when she was still Greg.By the time she came to Pratt, she was in pre-op sex reassignment stage-the year of hormone "treatments" and living to "pass as the other." In 1978, Pratt did not know what to do with this situation and therefore refused to give Greer a roommate.The administration, instead, insisted that she live in a studio apartment, meant for two and pay double occupancy.
This was also the year that "Debbie Does Dallas" had scenes filmed at the Pratt library.

...

Greer's family ran a bible camp in Michigan where she helped out.It was there she went to recover after her sex reassignment surgery in the summer of 1979.Upon our return to school,I  ran into Greer and asked about her surgery.She said she had to wear a dildo inside of her all day long and that she was in hideous pain.

...

Her talent astounded me- it seemed endless, limitless. She could lay out a piece of fabric,cut,snip and sew up something to wear in an instant.During one visit,she did a wonderful portrait of me titled "Karen as a puppet." She quickly captured my spirit as well as her perception of friends.I have carried that portrait with me for over thirty years.

Greer seemed to be able to do whatever she wanted- life drawing,sewing,doll building- with incredible ease and boundless imagination and ingenuity.
She was at once all of us and yet not like any of us.

excerpts from my "Memories of Greer"
 From the catalog for the re-installation of "It's all about ME,Not You."
Mattress Factory
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
www.mattress.org