Mary Joyce 

“Papaver Somniferum” – mixed media with collaged poppy petal 

Canada

“ “Papaver Somniferum:” Sleep-Bringing Poppy

Poppies bloomed in the garden behind the house. We awoke from quarantine’s oblivion to memory’s revival: once again, huge scarlet red petals hiding the central circle of quivering black stamens. Ephemeral joy: the petals fall. Sleepily, I observe that the shiny black splat where the petal attaches is deep purple, shedding purple dust into white glue. Collaging the petal onto paper, I position the purple-black mark as a human head of hair with neck ruff haloed by a corona of rapidly vanishing Cadmium red light.

From neck to shoulders, arms, torso, bum, a back view emerges of someone waving open hands to a crowd on the far side of a glass.

“Never again normal” is a demand arising from the crisis. Let us never sleep while non-white humans are singled out for police violence, while elders are sacrificed to greed, while essential workers’ wage and conditions”

Mary Joyce, Artist, makes and exhibits art from her home in Edmonton, Alberta. Public exhibitions of her works began in 1985. Details available on her website.

For more information about the artist, check out: www.maryjoyceart.com