Holcus lanatus

buttercups in the meadow

grasses in the meadow, bleaching

Carrion Crow

'of wild kin' is a solo exhibition of work that was set to run for 2 months at the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh. Due to Covid-19, it was forced to close after only 3 days. The work now hangs in isolation, in the darkness; the library remain closed. Although the work was formed before the pandemic, many of the pieces are strangely prescient—especially 'the leaving'.
The show is a homage to the process of inspiration of visual art through the particular vehicle of poetry.
Each picture in the exhibition is hung alongside the poem to which it relates.

The assembly of drawings and prints brought together for the exhibition 'of wild kin' is made up largely of small incidental pieces, all of which relate to poems – response or correspondence of some kind. Materials are charcoal and pastel along with monotypes drawn into with gouache and some printed with human hair.
For this exhibition I wanted to focus on affinity; to acknowledge the role of others in the finding of strong truths, to identify and give importance to our connections.

I work in the realm of gesture, like many poets. So often, I’m working in the dark, not knowing fully where I’m heading or what exactly is taking shape. Poetry can act as a beacon, helping me to locate and so retrieve something.

For me poetry, like art, can be a vehicle—a means of visiting difficult territory, tuning-in and listening; from there it’s a matter of going closer in or, in the words of feminist thinker Donna Haraway, ‘staying with the trouble’. The small booklet accompanying the exhibition carried an excerpt from Haraway's book: 'Staying with the Trouble' (Duke University Press, 2016)

The poems and poets featured in this show are simply those that came into view through the exploration of things I find significant. In almost every case, coming across them was serendipitous – a story lies behind each one. The launch event will be a celebration of that fact, accompanied by the live performance of experimental cellist / vocalist, Liana Nuse.

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Jules Bradbury

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