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Description
The second in a pair of paintings for a BFA alumni exhibit at my university. The theme is 'sense of place' relating to our university's location in northern British Columbia, Canada. For those who don't know, I spent the first 25 years of my life in that town before immigrating to Australia in 2014. From the exhibit statement:
"Displacement II features a Canada goose against the Southern Cross constellation used on the Australian flag. Among many Aboriginal groups, the constellation marks the head of the 'emu in the sky.' The paintings reference the artist’s immigrant status while simultaneously acknowledging the ongoing displacement of indigenous peoples."
The paintings complete a set with this poem, which draws on my roots in the Anglo-Celtic diaspora:
Commonwealth for Better Healthspinning needles, my fingers look north
trying to call forth cathedral forests and splintered
coasts, a compass powered by the pulse
of faded ghosts
auroras tremble when I close my eyes
Canada goose lost among southern skies
circadian spirals, waking before midnight
because it's always daylight when you're a splinter
of an empire, one hand clutching ice and
one hand seeking fire
lay my veins over longitude and latitude,
map my blood and give Magellan my gratitude
crossed two tropics and a pacific sea
marked the spot where my heart should be
but uilleann pipes seep through my chest
and bring my soul back home to rest

Description
The second in a pair of paintings for a BFA alumni exhibit at my university. The theme is 'sense of place' relating to our university's location in northern British Columbia, Canada. For those who don't know, I spent the first 25 years of my life in that town before immigrating to Australia in 2014. From the exhibit statement:
"Displacement II features a Canada goose against the Southern Cross constellation used on the Australian flag. Among many Aboriginal groups, the constellation marks the head of the 'emu in the sky.' The paintings reference the artist’s immigrant status while simultaneously acknowledging the ongoing displacement of indigenous peoples."
The paintings complete a set with this poem, which draws on my roots in the Anglo-Celtic diaspora:
Commonwealth for Better Healthspinning needles, my fingers look north
trying to call forth cathedral forests and splintered
coasts, a compass powered by the pulse
of faded ghosts
auroras tremble when I close my eyes
Canada goose lost among southern skies
circadian spirals, waking before midnight
because it's always daylight when you're a splinter
of an empire, one hand clutching ice and
one hand seeking fire
lay my veins over longitude and latitude,
map my blood and give Magellan my gratitude
crossed two tropics and a pacific sea
marked the spot where my heart should be
but uilleann pipes seep through my chest
and bring my soul back home to rest