A short series introducing many of the visual artists involved in Flourish Festival 2017.

Featured Artist: Laura Watson

Laura Watson is a drawer, printmaker, painter, embroiderer, and writer from Georgetown, Ontario. She acquired her BFA from Mount Allison University in 2015 and currently liveS in Sackville, New Brunswick. She sends her work out for free in an international mail exchange and may or may not be a member of The Society of Anonymous Drawers.

Tell us a bit about your work:

I work in a range of mediums, including embroidery, silkscreen, and painting, but whatever I’m doing, it tends to be rooted in drawing and writing. I particularly like to make inexpensive multiples that can be shared and circulated. My primary focus, for the past three years, has been an international postal exchange project in which I periodically send out parcels of handmade things to people around the world who subscribe by sending me something of their choice for exchange.

What does it mean for you to create / showcase in a new environment, even if it’s only for a few days?

Coming from Sackville, it’s always exciting to be showing some of my stuff in a different town to a different set of people. What with New Brunswick being relatively small, I think there’s an exciting possibility in this province for the various art and music communities to have really strong ties to each other, and I hope I can sort of be a part of that.

What are you planning for FLOURISH this year?

At Flourish this year, I’m planning to build a fort in one of the music venues, as in something from the grand tradition of childhood architectural endeavours. It will involve screen-printing, embroidery, and some found objects, and will be a sort of semi-secret, safe, sacred space a little removed from the commotion of the concerts. I’ll also be assisting Patrick Allaby with one of his projects at Flourish.

What is exciting you about FLOURISH this year?

The exciting thing to me about Flourish is that they are open to literally anything, which means I get to try something a little outside my usual work and allow it to take whatever direction it wants. I’m also pretty excited about the other artists lined up for this year. I’m looking forward to seeing what Owen Steel and sophia bartholomew have in store.

Visit www.flourish-fest.com for complete festival information.