The Art of P.K. Irwin : Observer, Other, Gemini

P. K. Page—the celebrated poet—was also a gifted visual artist working under her married name, P. K. Irwin. The Art of P. K. Irwin charts the evolution in her art, detailing an expansive range of artistic influences, from the geographical and temporal, to the poetic, artistic and spiritual.

Drawing from personal research, Page/Irwin's own writings, and time spent with the artist herself, Rackham Hall creates a portrait of an artist who never stopped experimenting with form-or finding ways to let her art articulate that which she was feeling most acutely.

From natural to amorphous shapes, and from intricate and labyrinthian lines to stark geometric forms, Hall traces the artist's development. Rackham Hall shows the influence of New York School artists such as Mark Tobey upon her work, especially when it came to integrating her inclinations as a poet with her new-found role as a visual artist.

Hall's volume draws meaning and continuity from the vast and diverse body of P. K. Irwin's visual art, and is both a contemplative and sensory pleasure to journey through.