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Geneviève Castrée: Complete Works 1981-2016: Complete Works 1981-2016
An immersive curation of Geneviève Castrée’s stunning life’s work and expansive artistic legacy
It’s not easy to label an artist like Geneviève Castrée―cartoonist, illustrator, musician, sculptor, stamp collector, activist, correspondent―a person with busy hands and a mind too creative and wild to stop doing.
Those familiar with Castrée's seminal memoir about her childhood, Susceptible (included fully within), will know that she, to a large degree, raised herself. It was in those unattended, semi-feral childhood years that Geneviève used art to pull herself out of what could have otherwise been a bleak existence. Instead, she found beauty and depth around her and blended it gorgeously with the harsh, devastating realities of this world, creating a body of work that is so stunning, heartbreaking, and magical that it leaves you aching.
From rarely- or never-seen illustrations and comics, to album covers and photographs, to studio scraps, Geneviève Castré Complete Works 1981-2016 is a breathtaking collection of Castrée’s work and soul. A remarkable woman who made remarkable art, her love and spirit weep and shine from the pages.
With an introduction from Castrée’s widower Phil Elverum, who devoted himself to designing and curating the book, we gain further insight into the details of her life. Translations are lovingly and expertly provided by Elverum and Aleshia Jensen.
It’s not easy to label an artist like Geneviève Castrée―cartoonist, illustrator, musician, sculptor, stamp collector, activist, correspondent―a person with busy hands and a mind too creative and wild to stop doing.
Those familiar with Castrée's seminal memoir about her childhood, Susceptible (included fully within), will know that she, to a large degree, raised herself. It was in those unattended, semi-feral childhood years that Geneviève used art to pull herself out of what could have otherwise been a bleak existence. Instead, she found beauty and depth around her and blended it gorgeously with the harsh, devastating realities of this world, creating a body of work that is so stunning, heartbreaking, and magical that it leaves you aching.
From rarely- or never-seen illustrations and comics, to album covers and photographs, to studio scraps, Geneviève Castré Complete Works 1981-2016 is a breathtaking collection of Castrée’s work and soul. A remarkable woman who made remarkable art, her love and spirit weep and shine from the pages.
With an introduction from Castrée’s widower Phil Elverum, who devoted himself to designing and curating the book, we gain further insight into the details of her life. Translations are lovingly and expertly provided by Elverum and Aleshia Jensen.
562 pages, Hardcover
Published October 18, 2022
4 people are currently reading
143 people want to read
About the author
Geneviève Castrée
10 books27 followersGeneviève Castrée was born in Québec in 1981. She started inventing and drawing characters at the age of two. She did not learn it in school. At the end of High School, she took her diploma and disappeared. Impatient and lazy, Geneviève did not study "art". She made books and had exhibitions in countries such as Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia and Japan.
Castrée added music and performance to her work from time to time. She made records and played concerts under the names Ô PAON and Woelv.
Geneviève Castrée lived in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States with her husband, musician Phil Elverum. In 2015, she gave birth to a daughter, Agathe, and was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer just a few months later. She died in 2016.
Castrée added music and performance to her work from time to time. She made records and played concerts under the names Ô PAON and Woelv.
Geneviève Castrée lived in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States with her husband, musician Phil Elverum. In 2015, she gave birth to a daughter, Agathe, and was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer just a few months later. She died in 2016.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 13, 2023
I wasn't a fan of the two Geneviève Castrée books I previously read that are included in this collection (see reviews below), but I found her her art so intriguing that I requested my local library to purchase this book so I could see more of it. And indeed this book is beautiful to peruse. Her writing and music haven't done much for me, but I could stare at these pictures all day. While I had thought this 531-page book would take me days to get through, I couldn't stop once I started and found myself flying through it in a single afternoon.
Susceptible ~2 stars~
A semi- or fully-autobiographical sketch of the author's childhood, I guess? Young Goglu is buffeted by her parents' various changing relationships and infidelities and substance abuse issues, with her mother and father ending up basically on opposite sides of Canada and her falling into the chasm between, repeating their mistakes and coming up with plenty of her own as she flails about in life.
A lot of the developments are unfortunately too common in too many people's life stories to really stand out in the crowd. The string of vignettes has some compelling moments but mostly skims past without much impact beyond simple schadenfreude. Perhaps if all the childhood trauma had been connected to how the character/author turned out as an adult it would have helped, but the book simply ends when she's 18 and moves out on her own (with all her teeth).
Appalling side note: Castrée sadly died from cancer at 35. Her official web site, https://www.genevievecastree.com as listed on her Goodreads and LibraryThing author pages, was apparently allowed to lapse and has been taken over by another entity that rebranded the page as "Genevieve Castree: Gambling the Smart Way," a blog offering tips for improving your betting strategies.
A Bubble ~2 stars~
The author was working on this children's board book about a sick mother's relationship with her daughter when she passed away from pancreatic cancer. I think it will be very valuable to people who find themselves in similar circumstances but may be too much for those who want to live in their own bubble where children need not think of such things.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contents:
• Introduction / Phil Elverum
• volcano / Julie Doucet
• early work [1997-2003]
• Pamplemoussi [2004]
• We're Wolf [2005]
• Gris [2006]
• Tout Seul Dans La Forêt En Plein Jour; Avez-vous Peur? [2007]
• Masques [2007]
• public service announcement posters [2009]
• Ou [2008-2009]
• Ceux Qui Ne Sont Plus (the Dead) [2010]
• Courses [2010]
• Débarrassée/Décomplexée [2012]
• Susceptible [2012]
• Hivers [2013]
• Quatorze/Quinze Ans [2013]
• Blankets Are Always Sleeping [2014]
• Désengagé / Disengaged [2014]
• Fleuve [2014]
• magic/healing [2015-2016]
• Tectonic Deity Oracle Deck [2016]
• Une Bulle / A Bubble [2016]
Susceptible ~2 stars~
A semi- or fully-autobiographical sketch of the author's childhood, I guess? Young Goglu is buffeted by her parents' various changing relationships and infidelities and substance abuse issues, with her mother and father ending up basically on opposite sides of Canada and her falling into the chasm between, repeating their mistakes and coming up with plenty of her own as she flails about in life.
A lot of the developments are unfortunately too common in too many people's life stories to really stand out in the crowd. The string of vignettes has some compelling moments but mostly skims past without much impact beyond simple schadenfreude. Perhaps if all the childhood trauma had been connected to how the character/author turned out as an adult it would have helped, but the book simply ends when she's 18 and moves out on her own (with all her teeth).
Appalling side note: Castrée sadly died from cancer at 35. Her official web site, https://www.genevievecastree.com as listed on her Goodreads and LibraryThing author pages, was apparently allowed to lapse and has been taken over by another entity that rebranded the page as "Genevieve Castree: Gambling the Smart Way," a blog offering tips for improving your betting strategies.
A Bubble ~2 stars~
The author was working on this children's board book about a sick mother's relationship with her daughter when she passed away from pancreatic cancer. I think it will be very valuable to people who find themselves in similar circumstances but may be too much for those who want to live in their own bubble where children need not think of such things.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contents:
• Introduction / Phil Elverum
• volcano / Julie Doucet
• early work [1997-2003]
• Pamplemoussi [2004]
• We're Wolf [2005]
• Gris [2006]
• Tout Seul Dans La Forêt En Plein Jour; Avez-vous Peur? [2007]
• Masques [2007]
• public service announcement posters [2009]
• Ou [2008-2009]
• Ceux Qui Ne Sont Plus (the Dead) [2010]
• Courses [2010]
• Débarrassée/Décomplexée [2012]
• Susceptible [2012]
• Hivers [2013]
• Quatorze/Quinze Ans [2013]
• Blankets Are Always Sleeping [2014]
• Désengagé / Disengaged [2014]
• Fleuve [2014]
• magic/healing [2015-2016]
• Tectonic Deity Oracle Deck [2016]
• Une Bulle / A Bubble [2016]
April 28, 2024
More of a monograph of Castree's work than a complete collection of her work. I know her primarily as a cartoonist by her D+Q work Susceptible, A Bubble, We're Wolf (Drawn & Quarterly Showcase: Book Three), and the short story in Drawn & Quarterly: Twenty-five Years. There's really not much more to her comics output than that, a few short strips and some material included in her vinyl releases. The rest are scattered artworks, snippets from old Zines, sketch books and diary entries.
I really enjoy her full-color artwork. It feels similar to Julie Doucet but has a more gentle touch to it.
I really enjoy her full-color artwork. It feels similar to Julie Doucet but has a more gentle touch to it.
November 3, 2022
Beautifully and lavishly produced tribute to an artist that left us too soon. The arrangement respects the work which speaks for itself.
December 8, 2022
A beautiful book of an incredible voice and artist, who will always be an inspiration to me. It will be treasured in my library. My gratitude to Phil and the D&Q team so her unpublished work is out in the world. Genevieve's personal and artistic journey is achingly felt in a spectrum of emotions that will remind you of the importance of art.
August 16, 2023
Gorgeous record of an artist life. Castrée died tragically of cancer shortly after giving birth to her only child. She published one graphic novel memoir in her lifetime, but was a wide ranging artist - she worked on many musical projects, dabbled in pottery and poetry, created many posters and packaging for festivals and other projects, and was a friend to the Olympia art community. Her art was haunting. It had a cute/creepy quality to it, and often depicted disturbing content, sometimes relating to her traumatic childhood. She was accomplished, even though her life was cut far too short.
This is clearly a labor of love, a project undertaken by those who loved her, especially her partner. A process of grief. There are photos of her workspaces and of her at points in her life. There are many scans of her journals, sketches, drafts, and musings.
It's huge, over 500 pages - I need to use both hands to lift it without injuring my wrist.
Castrée's first language was French, so much of the text is in French. Often that text is translated in small orange English in the margins. Perhaps best to consume in a well lit space, with a table to support the book (I do most of my reading propped up in bed with a dim lamp, so sometimes the orange text was challenging to read).
I'm including the travelogue tag because many of the journals and parts of Susceptible depict travel. I'm including the not-amerika tag because she was born in Canada and lived there until adulthood (when she moved the Anacortes, WA).
I wish some of the gaps in her story had been filled in - it's so clearly a loveletter from her partner, I wish I'd gotten a better sense of who he is (he writes a foreword, but there are no clear photos of him). I know that's not the intent of this piece, it was just something I wanted as someone who read it cover-to-cover.
I love her work. I'm sad - like everyone else - that she didn't get the chance to make more of it. Cancer sucks.
This is clearly a labor of love, a project undertaken by those who loved her, especially her partner. A process of grief. There are photos of her workspaces and of her at points in her life. There are many scans of her journals, sketches, drafts, and musings.
It's huge, over 500 pages - I need to use both hands to lift it without injuring my wrist.
Castrée's first language was French, so much of the text is in French. Often that text is translated in small orange English in the margins. Perhaps best to consume in a well lit space, with a table to support the book (I do most of my reading propped up in bed with a dim lamp, so sometimes the orange text was challenging to read).
I'm including the travelogue tag because many of the journals and parts of Susceptible depict travel. I'm including the not-amerika tag because she was born in Canada and lived there until adulthood (when she moved the Anacortes, WA).
I wish some of the gaps in her story had been filled in - it's so clearly a loveletter from her partner, I wish I'd gotten a better sense of who he is (he writes a foreword, but there are no clear photos of him). I know that's not the intent of this piece, it was just something I wanted as someone who read it cover-to-cover.
I love her work. I'm sad - like everyone else - that she didn't get the chance to make more of it. Cancer sucks.
August 7, 2023
So complete. So sad knowing her life ends so soon. Such breathtakingly beautiful art. I may check out some of her music!
October 30, 2023
proof of an incredible person with an extraordinary gift.
July 20, 2024
This is a massive book but I think that was necessary. She was such a prolific artist and I love all of the notes and letters we got to read. I spent 30 minutes just sitting in bed crying after finishing this book but I think that's to be expected.
January 7, 2026
One of the most inspiring reads to date. I cannot believe the amount of art she put on this earth in the (too short of) time she was with us. I started a new art project the day after I finished the book.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews