Faculty & Staff

"My recent work has centred on texts—and art works themselves that become texts. This process includes the reading and writing of art manuals and history texts. A question I always ask myself is, how do I turn information into knowledge?

The paper of the books, the methods of conserving ideas, the tools of art have all become part of the work. A re-occurring theme is to explore the history / texts / tools as markers of time. Althusser said that one always catches the world's train on the move; Jean-Luc Goddard said that we're born into a museum. As an artist I dwell in both the contemporary and the past and my practice reflects both reinvention and a record of time.

Brenda Petays completed her ba at the University of Saskatchewan, bfa at the University of Alberta and mfa at the University of Victoria. Brenda began teaching at Visual Arts Department at Camosun College in 1991. She teaches drawing, painting, printmaking and history of film. Her art practice includes drawing, painting, printmaking, film, online and digital art, poetry, comics and zines. She also collects novelty pencils; her collection exceeds 500. Brenda's work can be found in both public and private collections. Recent exhibitions include Cover Stories, Anti Matter Film Festival, to Furnish and Graphica.