Painting is silent poetry, and poetry, painting that speaks. – Simonides

In Presence artist, actor and poet Duncan Regehr combines works of art and literature to offer a comprehensive vision of expanded consciousness. Widely collected as a painter of depth and clarity, Regehr brings the artist’s eye to give voice to the moment of transformation in visionary poems which hint at the ineffable. As he states in the Preface to Presence, “Our lives are a series of transformations, some instantaneous and surprising, some so gradual they occur unnoticed... Art is the most powerful alchemy we know; the magic agent of transcendence that lifts consciousness towards perfection. Through it we can better grasp the evolution of our lives and our ‘being’ as a state of presence.”

Published in conjunction with an exhibit of the same name, Presence offers a retrospective of Regehr’s most moving images alongside penetrating poems of human relations, inner exploration and imagined conversations with cultural luminaries, to create a unique volume that speaks where words fail and sings with the imagination’s persistent voice. It is a volume which will be treasured by the many collectors of Duncan Regehr’s art and by anyone interested in the interface of the visual and the literary creative impulse.

Duncan Regehr works in the literary, visual and performing arts. Among his published works, The Dragon’s Eye, Corvus Rex, Chrysalid, Scarecrow and Presence combine prose poetry and visual imagery. His paintings are found in collections and galleries worldwide. Also a classically trained actor, he performs and directs for stage, film, and television. He is a Royal Canadian Artist, a recipient of the American Vision Award of Distinction in the Arts, and holds a Doctorate of Fine Arts, honoris causa from the University of Victoria.