In 1912 the poet Guillaume Apollinaire defined Pure Abstraction as "the art of painting new structures out of elements that have not been borrowed from the visual sphere, but had been created entirely by the artist... it is a pure art." I begin my paintings with by drawing with my eyes closed, a discipline which relies on my body's spatial sensibility to create a balance of lines and forms. The resulting composition is a stable framework within which I can freely play with colour, with my eyes open. This way of working connects to a deep and vital, joyful intelligence which is rarely accessible through sight and conscious mind alone. __________ Verna Vogel is a first-generation Canadian visual artist who has been practising for ...