MALCOLM LOWRY'S October Ferry a Gabriola Island Tribute
(ISBN 1-895362-51-2 c. the authors and Reference West 1996) pp. 33-35.
Edited by Phyllis Reeve

Homage to Malcolm Lowry A Monotype Assemblage by Joyce Woods

In her "Clothing Series", artist Joyce Woods combines aspects of conceptual and Pop art in 4' X 5' portrait pieces. Beginning with monoprint portraits that pay homage to personal "heroes" such a William Burroughs, Georgia O'Keefe, Anaiis Nin, Doris Lessing, and Malcolm Lowry, Woods then combed thrift shops for articles of clothing that she felt represented her characters at a level beyond the portrait.The clothing is juxtaposed in frames with the portraits and with monoprint symbols from the subjects' lives and works.

The "Clothing Series" has been exhibited at the Fifty-Six Gallery in Vancouver, The Community Arts Council Gallery of Vancouver, The Open Gallery in Edmonton, and the Sandstone Studio on Gabriola Island.

The portrait of Lowry derives from photographs taken Sduring the Dollarton era, but the artist interprets the photographed image ambiguously. Is the man laughing? Or is he about to burst into tears? The eyes are doowncast, but caught in lines and crinkles which could signify either joy or sorrow, depending on whether the mouth is making a smile or a grimace.

Talking about working from snapshots of Lowry, Joyce Woods comments, With almost every photograph I've seen of him, I've had a strong sense of pain, but at the same time a mischievousness and zest for life, in the way he smiles at the camera." The portrait is the centrepiece of three monoprints, images sketched with rapid strokes against strong and almost stormy painterly, brownish, greyish backgrounds. One endpiece is an upturned (and therefore presumably empty) bottle; the other a fish curved and active in its romantic element.

The monoprint occupies approximately one-third of the piece. The lower two thirds contain the clothing: Lowry's familiar, slightly baggy trousers, belted with a 1950's tie, folded and hanging--more neatly than Lowry is likely to have left them--against a green background, and again in this background one is conscious of the brushstrokes. The clothes hang very still in contrast to the expressive, "moving" images. Within its wood and plexiglass frame, Joyce Woods' "Lowry" is both monumental and whimsical.