It was an enjoyable project using mixed media, with no mixed messages.
Poet Paul Wilson and cartoon artist Jonah McFadzean made their way to the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum last Thursday afternoon and evening to conduct a couple of workshops followed by a poetry reading and comic strip exhibit in the evening.
The event, all part of last week's Culture Days in Saskatchewan, featured poetic words from Wilson that had been translated and transported into cartoon form by McFadzean during the past spring and summer as the two travelled throughout the province attending a variety of exhibitions and cultural events.
Wilson and McFadzean got along famously and when Wilson brought his Invisible Library project voice to the EAGM on Thursday, McFadzean and his work were there too.
The two explained that there were four travelling animateur projects funded this year and Wilson was assigned the southern Saskatchewan region which he said he was overjoyed to do since it was familiar territory for him.
"Since May we have been stirring up interest, engaging people in the arts and culture communities with over 200 events, proving that four of us can get to more people than just one or two.
"I asked myself what I could do to bring events together and getting a comic strip artist seemed like a good one since it is a growing art and business in this province. When Jonah agreed to provide some art, practically on the spot at these events, and I already knew he was a champion of improvisation, it was a natural fit," said Wilson, speaking just before their presentation in the gallery.
"Saskatchewan Culture gave us some funding for collaboration of poetry and comics. We found some great ideas, stuck with it and got it out there," he added.
Getting the essence of the events they were attending over the summer was one task that seemed to come easily to the two artists.
"The fact that these two things, comics and poetry, shared some attributes surprised us, actually," said Wilson. "The intensity of some of Jonah's images was impressive and I had to learn how to compact some of my messages. In comics you have to have blocks; in poetry we have stanzas. In comics, the climax comes in the reveal, while in poetry, it's found in the closing," he said.
"That meant I had to form a vision of what my poem is or was and I'd have this vision and then Jonah would come up with something more startling. He translated to the comic world what the story was saying. He characterized the story."
"The poem was my launching point," McFadzean said.
"In some of my voice poems for instance, one of the characters becomes a puppet and not a happy one," said Wilson with a laugh.
The two men said they retain the copyright for the work that might find a publisher, while the printing rights belong to Saskatchewan Culture.
"Jonah is a great image poet in his own right. He stretches it. My poems are descriptive and honing them down has been a new experience for me which means that these poems are not all mine and Jonah's comics aren't all his," said Wilson.
Culture Days, although it was only a week in duration, involved the two men since May of this past summer.
"The Invisible Library is the participation part. The invisible book in the invisible library doesn't exist in our world, but it can be a legend. You can find it, it's in your mind," said Wilson in conclusion.
"Comics are legitimate art and translating Paul's stuff into lyrical comics was a great experience for me," said McFadzean who comes from a family of visual artists with his brother being a well-known and established comic/cartoon artist and his sisters also displaying artistic and writing skills as they advance through their university experiences. McFadzean's work will be featured in the Art Gallery of Regina in February.
