A Walk in the Trees …

I have been busy working through the last few months of documentation from the work done this year on MAKE=BELIEVE. So much to think about, and many, many threads of research to pursue. The longer I work on this installation, the more I learn and discover. What a joy that is.

Here’s part 1 of a walk through the installation – I hope it’s a chance for people to pause for a few minutes, and maybe provide a little break in these odd and crazy times.

Looking forward to any feedback you may want to provide. Stay well & safe.

MACROMAREAL – at SNAP

Very excited to say that MACROMAREAL (a rising tide lifts all boats) will be opening at SNAP (Society of Northern Alberta Print-artists) on September 11, 2020!~

It’s a VERY odd time to be presenting work to the public – but I am so happy with all the precautions SNAP has in place, and so very happy to sew showing work in their BRAND NEW home!

There’s several things going on for this iteration of MACROMAREAL. Both Scott and I have re-worked existing elements of the project, and I have been busy since the last time this work was shown making a bunch of new prints! So, brand new work for us in a new space – how lucky can you get??

The exhibition will be opening on the evening of September 11, from 7 – 9 pm. This will be a hybrid event: SNAP is pre-booking (free) tickets to see the show in person, and limiting the number of people in the gallery at one time, so that everyone can stay safe AND see the art in person. We will also be online – Scott & I are attending the Opening virtually, so more people can see the work in person if they want to – and anyone else who wants to attend virtually is welcome to do so as well!

Fundy Sine, Cyanotype on Cotton, 2017.

There will also be a socially-distanced LIVE performance of Scott Smallwood’s score “Macromareal Prelude: in Fog and Storm and Sunshine” on Saturday September 12, at 1:00 pm local time, in the immediate neighbourhood of SNAP, outsdoors. We are both extremely happy to be able to work with some excellent local Edmonton musicians for this event, and to be able to present this work live in a safe way. This is a ‘roving’ performance work; the musicians will be moving in the neighbourhood as they play, and will be distanced; we ask that anyone attending keep 2metres or more from any musician(s) they encounter, and PLEASE wear a MASK!

Dress rehearsal for the original performance of Scott’s score in 2017, Parrsboro NS

Scott and I will also be presenting an artists’ talk about the genesis and evolution of the project on Saturday, October 10th, again at 1pm local time. This talk will be presented online.

A collage of various elements of the project as it evolved

And for some added fun: I will be facilitating a cyanotype workshop/demo online for SNAP on Thursday September 17, starting at 6pm.

Caution, Cyanotype on Cotton, 2019

Looking forward to all of this very much – and hope that you can join us for some of it.

Dancing in the Light

Every day that brings sunshine that warms the skin and clear pavement to walk is a gift.

Being able to stretch, feel muscles move under skin; a little more awake and alive with every step under the spring-blue sky.

Fitting then, that I came across video of this mesmerizing sculpture:

For all the dancers I know. Thank you.

Today: A Talk

Today, I have the happy opportunity to share the Boundary|Time|Surface project with the McGill University community.

Very much looking forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts on the project!

New things coming …

It’s been a head-down, get-things-done time for several months now. Board work, projects in various stages of development requiring attention, travel,  … and soon, an exhibition of work.

I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to return to the Boundary|Time|Surface project over the last several months – digging back into the images and video, thinking through the ideas again, making new work.

And soon, the results of that revisiting will be on exhibition at the Art Gallery of St. Albert! 

The exhibition opens on September 5 2019, at 6:00 pm. – and continues until November 2 2019.

It has been a really interesting process to look at this body of work with the fresh eyes of time and distance, and to consider the ways in which my perceptions of the place and the thoughts it provoked have both changed, and stayed the same. Interesting too, that many of the concerns I had that were brought to bear on the first iteration of work for gallery presentation have only become more urgent – closer to the bone for me.

Every time I look at the photos and video I took in 2014 during my residency in Gros Morne National Park, I learn something more. About myself and what I value as a human being, as much about the nuances in the place itself. It was good and difficult work to go back into the material, push harder with research and art-making both, and consider the implications of bringing this work (in essence) almost all the way across the country for a second showing.

A good friend and fellow artist asked me once “when do you know the work is finished?” For this body of work … I don’t know that I will ever be “finished” – at the least, not with the ideas inherent in the project. But I am, overall, happy with the results of reading and writing and running down rabbit holes of ideas that has been going on for the past year.

SO – this exhibition with feature a good bit of brand-new work, and those pieces from 2016 that ‘made the cut’ will have new conversations and readings in relation to what I’ve been working on/through.  This is also the first time this work (in any iteration) had been shown west of Newfoundland … so even “old” work feels new in this context.

I hope those of you reading this in the Edmonton, Alberta, Canada region will join me at the opening (more exciting news on that to follow soon!) …  hope to see you there.

Exhibition Walk Through: MAKE=BELIEVE, in Archived Land – Terrain Archivé

There’s one more week to see Archived Land – Terrain Archivé at Jackson Power Gallery in Edmonton.

The show closes 5pm September 29th.  Gallery hours are by appointment (780-499-7635) during the week, and Noon – 5 pm on Saturday.

For those of you who can’t make it in person, here’s a short video walk-through of my installation, MAKE=BELIEVE. Hope you enjoy it. (turn ON your sound!)

Opening Archived Terrain – Terrain Archivé

Had a lovely time at the Opening Reception for Archived Terrain – Terrain Archivé this past Friday night.

A HUGE Thank You to everyone that came out on a busy evening, with less than ideal weather!

We all had a busy night; lots of lovely conversations, and thoughtful comments. The best way to launch new work into the world.

I was also really happy that the lovely humans that have supported this project from the outset – and on whose land the original living installation sits – were able to attend and see this first foray into taking the MAKE=BELIEVE project into a different context! looking forward to lots of chats and feedback from them on this exhibition!

For those of you who weren’t able to be there last Friday: Archived Terrain – Terrain Archivé is up until 5pm September 29th. Regular hours are NOON – 5pm, Saturdays and Sundays – other times by appointment.

I will be gallery sitting on Sunday, September 23rd, NOON – 5pm, if you want to visit!

Some images of my installation/room below:

Just a very few more days …

… and Chaotic Bodies will close at Spazio Performativo.

IMG_4205

Amazing how fast the month has gone by – I’ve been too buried in the never-ending-cold-that-should-be-spring here to actually grasp that time is really passing quite quickly, and we are over 1/4 of the way through the year.

It has been a great experience re-working this project for static exhibition – being able to look at it again with fresh eyes, dig back into the ideas simmering inside it – and see what  potential there was in the conversations between media.

IMG_4170

My sincere thanks to Mile Zero Dance for the opportunity to show this work!! And my thanks to everyone involved in the RUCKUS dance project for allowing me to develop this project further, and to use the footage from rehearsals and performance in the video work!

SO: if you want to check out Chaotic Bodies before it disappears into storage again, you have until SUNDAY April 8th. I am striking the show on Monday!

If you have the opportunity, see the work both in the daytime and at night: I have a video work rear-projected in the window that is best seen after dark, and the installation and drawings are available for viewing during opening hours daytime at Mile Zero, and of course in advance of evening events.

Lancaster Chaotic Bodies Promo 4

If you get over there – drop me a line and let me know your thoughts! I’d like to hear from you.

738f7f31-9f1d-4e8e-aeda-63306550ee97

Chaotic Bodies Opening Thursday Mar 8!

I am excited to be presenting a dance-infused project in Mile Zero Dance’s Spazio Gallery!

The multi-media installation Chaotic Bodies will be on view in the window gallery until April 8th, so stop by Mile Zero Dance and have a look. (after dark the work takes on a new life!)

If you are in the area, please join us for the Opening Reception for this work at Mile Zero’s Spazio Performativo on Thursday March 8, from 6:30 – 8:00pm, and stay for Dirt Buffet Cabaret, curated by Liam Cody.

Chaotic Bodies is a series of works derived from photographic and video documentation of RUCKUS, a work-in-progress choreographed by Anastasia Maywood, Krista Posnyiuk, and Alison Kause. My goal with Chaotic Bodies is to explore the visual echoes of my engagement with the dancers and the choreography, with their bodies in space, and their responses through movement to the sculptural work I created.

I would like to extend my deep thanks to Anastasia Maywood, Krista Posnyiuk, Alison Kause, Ainsley Hillyard, Kate Stashko, & Alida Kendell for welcoming me into their work on RUCKUS (past & future), and for their generous an insightful feedback as I worked with them to make the ideas specific to their creative process tangible. I am grateful also for their permission to use footage and stills from rehearsals and performances in the presentation of this project at Mile Zero Dance.