The Artist: Anne Hoban

The Lowdown: Belladonna is the title of a vibrant and ambitious exhibition of recent collages by local artist Anne Hoban. Directly translated, belladonna means "beautiful lady" in Italian; it's the scientific name for deadly nightshade, a plant bearing beautiful and poisonous fruit that also has medicinal purposes.

Coordinates: Belladonna is on at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre until April 13. The show is open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; call 604-251-1363 for weekend hours.

Process oriented: Hoban's grand designs are influenced by her appreciation for several art-historical periods, including German expressionism, medieval painting, and early Byzantine art. The artist typically works through traditional collage techniques, tapping into the unconscious by flipping through magazines (National Geographic is a favourite), then selecting images based on formal considerations such as colour. Made from more than 4,000 pieces of paper, the pií¨ce de résistance here is the 4' x 8' collage titled The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This mesmerizing and highly referential assemblage-look for Albrecht Dí¼rer-is complemented by another paper collage and a series of 10 digital prints. The prints mark a new direction for Hoban, who used her personal photography archive and cutout work, in addition to digital drawing and several other computer effects, to create the series of emotionally charged female figures at various stages in their imagined lives.

What it all Means: "The belladonna plant grows in rocky places where other things are hard to grow. It doesn't grow very well in strong sunlight," says Hoban, interviewed downtown. "They called it belladonna because Italian women used to use it to dilate their pupils and make themselves more beautiful."