Many thanks to Ira Hoffecker and Jane Coombe for including me in their September exhibition, conTEXT, at Errant Art Space in Victoria, British Columbia. This one was a long time coming: the show was due to open in early April, but of course was postponed because of the pandemic. conTEXT is part of a larger art and poetry extravaganza in Victoria, titled Stanzas. Leslie Campbell calls this a “city-wide poem” in her article about the event.

All of the work in the exhibition relates to text in some way. My Valedictions, an excerpt of which are on display here, are my musings on the ways that we sign off in writing to each other, the words of care (simply polite, or deeply felt) that we use when closing a letter or message. The text fragments are each embroidered onto handmade paper. I find a lovely materiality in the process.

Ira and Jane involved two Victoria poets in the exhibition as well. Gisela Ruebsaat and John Luna each responded to the works on display by writing a series of poetic responses. The poems and the artwork are included in the small exhibition catalogue, found online here. I find John Luna’s response to my work so evocative, particularly the phrase “to linger there an almost negligent invitation.” We gathered on a video call last night (as we do these days) for a poetry reading and to see the exhibition from afar.