Lynna Corrinne

Something to Carry Home 2025

Process of a build

Doug Fir, Cotton Dropcloth, Rabbit Skin Glue, Titanium Screws, Wood Glue

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Sept 18th 2025

This project has been inescapable, I have been reading poetry from around the year 200.
I e-mailed a professor at the Art Institute of Chicago Peter O’Leary. A friend, Annie heard I was learning about Gnosticism and lent me his book of poetry, Luminous Epinoia. I asked if I could attend his lectures for his course “Spritus Mundi” while I was staying in Chicago.

He has taught three of my dear friends-
Annie, a comic artist, musician and the top scholar on the show “Sliders”.
Garrett, a painter, whose matte gouache paintings are adorned with witful phrases - dry and pointed like a chuckle emboldening the perpetual ache in your chest.
Hannah, a videographer whose work does not have the need to fabricate a new reality to capture the tenderness of the human spirit.
She told me her class with Peter was simply about walking. I love to go for a walk.

Peter e-mailed me back within two days with the course schedule and we coordinated a time to meet so he could let me in.
I woke at 6:45 am to ensure I could arrive on time. What outfit is appropriate for college? I had not been since I was in my twenties. Academic spaces have always intimidated me, I struggle to navigate authority and beauracracy.

Trousers, I think that is right. A brown sheer button up shirt with a plain white shirt beneath it.
Loafers, no socks.

Belt or no belt?

No belt. I don’t want to stand out too much. I want to be simple.

Time to pack my tote- a blue cotton marimeko bag with a hole torn in the corner.

My camcorder- the head needs cleaning to record to mini DV. I just take photos with it, they are prettier on the little RGB screen than when I transfer them from the SD card.
A small black notebook- I have been writing in it 2-3 times a day. It is smooth and matte, I find myself running my hands over it’s cool black cover when anxiety creeps in.
A copy of “The Books of Jeu and the Pistis Sophia as Handbooks to Eternity : Exploring the Gnostic Mysteries of the Ineffable” by Erin Evans. An examination of two esoteric coptic texts, full of drawings, mystical ascent procedures and guides to moral living.
Two metal ballpoint pens- blue and black.
My wallet- cowhide dyed navy with the fur balding at each corner
Laptop- I will have to work later

The walk to the train station is about 5 minutes. This will be the last day I have in Chicago before heading to Carbondale.
I have been here for five days, I know my way to the station. Headphones in, listening to Low, I will be seeing Alan Sparhawk in two days.

I read my book on the train, look at the commuters, romanticize the early morning half hour slog into work. Would I grow to resent it if I were here? I hopped off the train at Monroe.

I am typically a slow walker, this morning I paced with the crowds as to not disrupt the rhythm of the morning. I try my best to uphold the illusion. I know where I am going, 280 South Columbus Ave. on the Eastside of the Art Institute.

I spot the unremarkable building, grey postmodernist. There is a pit of large steps in a rectangle decending below the sidewalk level. Students lurk in the pit, reading piles of papers, sitting on their computers and of course, smoking. I spot a bench near the entrance, take a seat and begin reading. I can’t quite focus, I am 20 minutes early, examining each person as they approach confirming whether they are Peter.

An effortlessly stylish woman in her early 60’s, black curly hair with whispers of white and grey. Chunky 90’s silver rings and bracelets. She is light and swift on her feet, she is in shape for her age. I think she could outrun me.

A student fumbling over a stack of stapled together printouts presumably from their coursework. Baggy black pants, wallet chain, layers of t-shirts and sweatshirts, all blacks and grey. Their hair is black and convering their eyes with a big swoop. A cross between an anime character and Tila Tequilla.

A regular Mr. Collegiate Senior approaches, brunette, early fifties. Is this blazer adorned professional who I am meeting? I fumble for my phone to check his bio on the Intitute website. A curly headed man leans over a church pew, I have looked at this image at least five times. I still don’t trust I could know his face.

8:56 AM, one minute after our scheduled meeting time. I decide to text Peter. He gave me his number just in case. “Hello! This is Lynna- I am outside building 280 wearing a brown button up shirt~” I get a thumbs up- “ I’ll be there in a minute!” Of course I reciprocate the thumbs up, its only natural.

I see him and don’t have to check his bio. We briefly exhange warm greetings. He buzzes me in, I have my photo taken for my visitors pass. I stick on my pass to keep moving, the guard stops me, I have to scan my new ID.

Peter is the first person to tell me he loves Carbondale, he reccomends going to The Garden of the Gods nearby.