mel patchwork monoceros wrote one of our favourite poetry collections of the year, Remedies for Chiron (Radiant Press, 2023). Remedies for Chiron is told through the eyes of a queer, disabled, Black poet trying to navigate love and an often inaccessible and inhospitable world. mel is also an immensely talented visual artist (their book cover features their gorgeous work) and we’re stoked to have them join us for this Power Q & A to talk about their work.

Q: Are there intersections in your visual and written art?

A: While creating my first collection of textile works and accompanying poems, Point of Origin (2016), I worked on the series of quilts and tapestries for over a year, all the while composing text-kin to go with them when they were complete. I didn't know I had ADHD and was autistic at the time but I did recognize an interesting way of working. I was spinning stitches up to the last minute and despite having the poems held in my brain, I couldn't proceed with them until the textiles were done. A matter of days before opening, once the pieces had been delivered to the gallery I came home and finally had the mental clarity to sit at my typewriter and tap away all nights, scribing each of the 6 connected poems in the order of the textiles one after the other. Though the words weren't written in tandem with the creation exactly, the chaotic cosmos of my mind was working vigorously, holding the words until my hands could receive them. Sewing, weaving, etc. leaves ample room for thought mapping and scripting passages as they arise. Writing asks to have a tactile output often, to support puzzling any foggy elements out. Since then, while I haven't created an exactly analogous series of one-to-one text/iles or films there is an energy when I am in the creation-station zone that ignites the form next to it like kindling. It is all language to me and they are in constant conversation.

Bring home ***Remedies for Chiron*** from Radiant Press.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I am mid-way into a new series of fiber portraits featuring microscopic views of frequented areas of my home. The series Mourning Microcosmmutes explores how as a disabled person and at-risk covid cautious person, my entire life has been within the walls of my home for nearly five years. Every year the pandemic continues and mandates and policies lessen, thus endangering immunocompromised people further. There is deep grief watching the world go on from behind my curtains. I have missed milestones, my own and my loved ones' because it is not safe for me to go to a mall much less get on an airplane. Myself and other covid shielders have felt and witnessed our lives shrink and shrink as more and more becomes toxic to our presence. We miss each other and understand with full comprehension why we may not see each other for years, possibly a decade, but it isn't easy, comfortable, enjoyable. A play on microcosm and commutes, my quilted photographs document spaces like stained glass squares, the transom between floors of different rooms, etc. and categorizes them in the context of going to a "workplace". I was able to exhibit a set of the pieces this Fall during Rendezvous With Madness festival at Workman Arts in Toronto. I will create the next set over the next few months. Other than that I am continuing tilling the turmoil of writing a memoir, eagerly anticipating tucking into my cozy writer cocoonland as the winter approaches and settles.

More about m. patchwork monoceros:

m. patchwork monoceros (Treaty 1/Winnipeg, MB) is a poet and polydisciplinary artist exploring tactility and somatic grief through text, fiber, and film. Their collection Remedies for Chiron (poetry, Radiant Press) was released in 2023.