It was Clinton St. John’s father, Bob, who first alerted him to the grim history of the house he had just purchased in Delburne, Alberta. The small, century-old home, which St. John bought for just over $30,000 in 2020, turned out to be the site of an unattended death. The previous owner, an elderly woman, had died from a fall and her body lay undiscovered for months. The lingering smell that St. John initially attributed to bat droppings was actually the odor of decomposition. This discovery became the haunting backstory to his latest art exhibition, Excerpts from the Death House.
A Fateful Purchase
St. John, an artist and singer-songwriter, was seeking a workspace during the COVID-19 pandemic. His search led him to Delburne, where he had spent his childhood. The house was in rough shape, with floors covered in bat droppings and a pervasive smell. Despite the real estate agent’s claims that the odor was from bats, St. John’s father recognized it as the stench of death. Neighbors later confirmed that the previous owner had died in the house six months before St. John bought it.
Uncovering the Truth
St. John initially tried to eliminate the smell by ripping up flooring, painting walls, and sanding floors. However, the odor persisted. He contacted the RCMP in Three Hills, asking where in the house the woman had died. The officer, after checking records, seemed disturbed to reveal that the death occurred in the main floor bedroom—the very room St. John had been using as his studio. When he scraped off the white paint from the floor, he found a dark oil stain in the shape of a body.
The townspeople had long referred to the house as the “death house,” though St. John had no memory of it from his childhood. His father, Bob, remained uneasy about the spot where the body had lain and refused to climb the stairs to the second floor.
The Art Exhibition
St. John’s exhibition, Excerpts from the Death House, draws directly from this experience. The show examines themes of death, mortality, and memory, using the house as a central metaphor. The artist’s large-scale paintings and mixed-media works reflect on the fragility of life and the traces we leave behind. The exhibition is a deeply personal exploration, transforming a grim discovery into a powerful artistic statement.
St. John’s work has been praised for its raw honesty and emotional depth. By confronting the reality of death head-on, he invites viewers to reflect on their own mortality and the stories embedded in the spaces we inhabit.
