Laura Kerr : Transcendence

 

 

 

the entirety of a rose
cannot be reached

no introduction—
the work begins
already without permission

 

—

flowers
 not arranged
but handled

—

pressed into light
not photographed
flattened into existence

—

petal
leaf
insect
bruise
no hierarchy

—

the scanner refuses depth
so time enters sideways

—

white: opening too far
green: already compromised
red: continuation within beauty
rose: unreadable

—

nothing symbolizes
everything proceeds

—

system.log:
 loss = distribute (surface = all)

—

yes—
not located
not behind the image
but everywhere at once

—

the garden after
not memory
not before

—

if distance > minimal:
 image.fail ( )

—

you have to stay close
closer than looking allows

—

another register—
collapse without staging

stems crossing
petals folding inward
a structure that cannot
hold its own duration

—

structure.attempt ( )

if structure == stable:
 continue
else:
 collapse ( )

—

it never holds

—

no vase
no vase

no containment
only spill

—

and then—
a body enters
but barely

—

hands only
identity displaced into gesture

—

flowers lifted
placed
removed
replaced

—

this is where I hesitate

—

again

—

again

—

again

—

again

 

 

while True:
 arrange ( )
 observe ( ) 
 fail ( )
 love ( )

 

—

the vase remains
the arrangement does not

—

this is not documentation
this is rehearsal

—

grief as iteration
not event

—

grief.mode = "loop"
grief.resolution = None

—

yes—
that feels right

—

a space fades
into a procession
of hands arranging

after

—

agent.identity = dissolved
agent.action = persistent

—

the loop does not resolve
it maintains

—

not memorial
not tribute

—

practice

—

what can be done
 with what is gone

—

Spence:
 contact
Hickox:
 repetition

—

system.map:
 contact → compression
 repetition → sequence

—

both refuse completion

—

one presses time
flat

the other
returns it
to sequence

—

between them—
no transcendence
(not upward)

—

transcendence = False
direction = None

—

only this:

to remain
 with the flower

long enough
to see
it does not end

—

while observing:
 state.change ( )

—

it changes state
 continuously

—

and the image—
cannot stop it

only
hold

 the interval

—

image.process (time)
return interval

—

yes—
that is what it does

—

the work does not speak—
it continues

—

correction:
no introduction, still

—

Transcendence brings together Sheila Spence’s Lexicon for Loss
and April Hickox’s Observance
at Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art,
on view April 10–May 20, 2026.

it stayed with me

—

correction:

work.execute ( )

yet something still persists

the scent of white roses

 

 

 

 

Laura Kerr is an award-winning Canadian visual artist and poet. In 2012, she was honoured with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her contributions to the arts and her long-standing commitment to art education.

She recently sold her art school to devote herself fully to her writing and art practice. Laura currently serves as Vice-President on the executive board of Plug In ICA, a leading contemporary art centre located on Treaty 1 territory in Manitoba, Canada.

For over 30 years, she co-owned and taught at Paradise Art School, specializing in classical and contemporary art education. Throughout her career, she has explored the intersections of traditional mediums and digital technology, increasingly blending painting, drawing, and photography with generative processes.

Her current focus is visual poetry—experimental, image-based works that merge poetic ambiguity with technological play. By using digital tools in process-driven ways, she ensures the artist’s hand remains central—even in collaboration with machines.

She is also developing a body of experimental poetry criticism, written in collaboration with AI trained on her own work. These pieces challenge conventional interpretation and embrace uncertainty, forming a self-reflective loop between maker, machine, and meaning.