25 February – 27 May 2025
GVPL Bruce Hutchison
Saanich Commonwealth Place, 4636 Elk Lake Drive, Victoria
MWFS 10am-6pm / TTh 10am-7pm
About the work:
“Distillation is the process of taking the most important parts of something and putting them in a different form.”
I have been reading and thinking about poetry for over fifty years, ever since my Great Aunty Doris, in a moment of inspiration, gifted me “The Book of a Thousand Poems” on my seventh birthday.
Aged fourteen, I began collecting favourite poems in a notebook – a habit that continues to this day. I discover poems in books, magazines, newspapers and the internet or hear them on the radio Occasionally, I even write my own. My collection continues to grow. I’m now embarking on a third notebook.
I began making art only a few years ago but find that both poetry and visual arts occupy the same liminal space in my brain where understanding emerges through veils of emotion, unexpected connection and an internal dialogue between creator and recipient. Both spark sudden “aha!” moments. The veil is lifted; you see and feel seen, and forge a visceral connection to a stranger you’ve never met.
As a visual reader, I love how poems arrange words in unusual ways creating wild images in my mind. During the pandemic, small-scale art seemed most achievable, and with more time to read poetry I began to illustrate some favourite poems almost as a distraction. Distilled Poetry was the result.
For each concertina book, I chose a favourite poem and tried to pin down the nebulous idea, feeling or vision that the words engendered using words from that poem and presenting them as fragments – which is how poetry exists in my brain, mirroring the way a poem can intriguingly, never quite be fully known.
The Poems
Cartography for Beginners – Emily Hasler
Canadian North – Jennifer McIntyre
Goat – Jo Shapcott
Things to do in the Belly of the Whale – Dan Albergotti
My Life – Billie Collins
The Writing Life – Annie Dillard
Alex – Phyllis Webb
The Book of a Thousand Poems edited by J. Murray McBain, published by Evans Brothers Limited in 1942.
About the Artist:
I am a self-taught artist living and working locally who enjoys exploring different subjects, media, processes and techniques. The past few years have gifted me time for experimenting and pushing boundaries. I have only been painting for about seven years and have much still to learn and discover but I’m enjoying the ride.
I am inspired by the time I spend in the local landscape here on the West Coast but lived for many years near the Rocky Mountains and find that cold, bleak emptiness also informs much of my art as does my lifelong habit of reading poetry. Art incorporating text has always fascinated me. This series of concertina books is my first exploration of that fascination in my own art.
Find me on-line at:
Instagram: paxteranart
