Self-portrait, Basma Kavanagh

3 Questions: Artist & Curator in Conversation

1. Describe your working process as an artist: 

I have a multidisciplinary practice that includes writing, drawing, printmaking, artist books, and textiles. I typically have a range of projects on the go, in various stages of development or completion. I currently work full time as a writer and artist, and portion my work day based on my available energy, the quality of light, and upcoming deadlines or commitments. Because much of my work concerns the natural world and our relationships with other beings, I also spend time outdoors every day, observing and reflecting.  

2. What was your source of inspiration for your work in the exhibition? How did the act of art-making help you in reflecting on/responding to the pandemic as an artist? 

Several influences and sources of inspiration converged as I dreamt up this work. My most recent poetry book was about my Lebanese heritage and included Arabic words, which continue to hover in my mind and studio. Writing that book, I found references to historical Arabic poems known as “hanging odes”; it was difficult to learn much about these, but they were likely embroidered banners, possibly silk. The idea of poem-as-flag intrigues me. Reflecting on the pandemic, I wondered if people hung flags during plague-times to let neighbours know if they were sick or well. What would my plague-flag look like, what would I want it to tell people? Unsettling thoughts about the dangers of the virus led me to make something comforting and familiar, hence my flag morphing into a quilt. 

3. How do you think visual art helps us to understand the complex world around us? 

Visual art can evoke powerful responses ranging from the intuitive and visceral to the considered and cerebral. It can trouble or clarify our assumptions, promote the re-evaluation of perceptions or positions, convey deep insight in an instant, and/or invite years of contemplation. Colour, texture, and image wordlessly leap across the gap between minds. We are visual creatures: our eyes and brains have evolved through discerning patterns in the world around us. Visual art synthesizes and condenses meaning by re-framing, re-imaging, elaborating on, emphasizing, and juxtaposing elements of reality, disrupting and affirming our lived experiences.