AL8 — EC Mazur is Seeking the Sun
On her debut poetry collection, the Toronto multidisciplinary artist paints a luminous picture through words and images
WORDS BY MICHAEL ZARATHUS-COOK
Multidisciplinarity is no longer a niche nicety buried in the details of an artist’s bio, but a necessary component to thriving in today’s creative economy. From visual artists doubling as fashion designers, to gallerists moonlighting as philanthropists, wearing several hats on the same creative head is increasingly the norm rather than the exception. While our Materials series celebrates the focal relationship between an artist and a singular medium, Cannopy’s overall mission is as a platform for the dynamic intercourse between mediums across the visual and performing arts.
Two of our long-time illustrators — Kalya Ramu and EC Mazur — have been inspiring examples of this plurality of expression. We recently spotlighted Ramu’s day-job as a talented jazz musician, alongside the numerous illustrations and portraits she’s completed for this publication. Mazur portraits of the various artists we’ve profiled are similarly captivating and uniquely conceived. Two of these portraits ─ of poets Ross Gay and Anis Mojgani — are especially relevant to her own capacity as a poet. A capacity that has reached a crest in the recent release of her debut poetry collection, titled Seeking the Sun, featuring an indelible mix of evocative wordsmithing and illustrations.
Illustration by EC Mazur for Cannopy
In Seeking the Sun, Mazur arrives at an intersection where words push distinct images into the reader’s mind, the same images that perhaps initially inspired the poetics being expressed in words. A third intersecting line seems to be of equal importance to Mazur, and that is the element of performance. While many poets craft poems that are intended to be read rather than heard, Mazur’s is part of that strand of poetry that parses another layer of meaning between words and their activation through sound and embodiment. Employing these different vectors of expression, she explores her lived experiences of depression and healing through a tactile intimacy with nature. She joins Arts & Letters to answer a few questions about the concepts behind this debut work, and her own definition of multidisciplinarity.
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