Artist Project | Laura Watson | Poster Series

We’re pleased to launch the second set of eight new artist posters featuring projects by Andrea Mortson, Céline Huyghebaert, Jon Klassen and Laura Watson. They are each autonomous works, but can also be read collectively through the lens of the pandemic, with subject matter such as fear, safety and mortality.

Simple yellow and green pencil illustrations of wildflowers decorate a white page with handwritten text that reads: "Spell for spotting invisible things. When spring came, we decided to let the lawn grow up. I thought we should plant wildflowers but never got around to it. As the lawn grew longer, it's occupants began to reveal themselves. Dozens, maybe hundreds of different species, all previously flattened into a neat, green carpet, began to assert their rich identities. Every few weeks, something new comes into bloom and sings it's existence. It says: This is what I've been waiting for. I say: I see you. I see you now."

Laura Watson

Spell For Spotting Invisible Things

18x24"

Spell for Spotting Invisible Things is a short narrative recounting artist Laura Watson’s decision not to mow her lawn and the subsequent discovery of the incredible diversity of plants already growing there. The work speaks, in a quiet but critical way, to the settler relationship to land and the value of paying close attention to one’s surroundings. The poster work is adapted from a zine Laura Watson produced in 2020. The work examines “the lawn”, a private space in settler culture that is manicured for presentation to the public and has a long troubled history as a colonial status symbol.

Bio

Laura Watson is an artist and writer. She makes zines, prints, and textile works that combine drawing and poetry and has exhibited her work across Canada, including recent exhibitions at Presse Papier in Trois-Rivières, ARTsPLACE in Annapolis Royal, Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre in Medicine Hat, and Centre[3] for Print and Media Arts in Hamilton. Her writing has also been published in Contemporary Verse 2, Broken Pencil Magazine, and Call Out Comics. She acquired her BFA from Mount Allison University in 2015 and currently lives in Sackville, New Brunswick.