John Yau is an acclaimed contemporary American poet and art critic. Much of his poetry experiments with new poetic forms in order to create visual art. How is Yau able to translate the medium of art into the medium of language? That is to say, how does the mind conceptualize what is visually perceived in order to transform it into language? In this project, Lam will wrestle with concerns related to human perception and the creative mind. John Yau will serve as case study. How do his thoughts about the paintings he views transcribe into poetry? Lam will also consider the different (or lack of) affects one gets from reading a book of poetry as opposed to viewing a painting.