Exhibitions... 'A Second Look' |
Focus Gallery, Arts Underground, Yukon Arts Society, Whitehorse, Yukon, June 3 - 27 2015
Discovery Gallery, Alberta Craft Council, Edmonton, AB, September 5 - October 17 2015
a self directed exhibition with Yukon contributions by
Shiela Alexandrovich, Helen O'Connor, Jeanine Baker, Leslie Leong, Marlene Collins
Still under construction
Exhibition Description:
I started out by deciding to create an exhibition for Craftyear2015. I realized that I wanted to do something across provincial borders, and immediately the Yukon and some amazing artists and craftspeople came to mind. By collaborating with 5 other people I knew I could have help creating a remarkable show, and also get the inspiration that is usually part of collaboration.
I decided to have a second look at Alberta and Yukon photos that I had discarded to challenge myself to find inspiration where it was not previously obvious. I chose 5 images from each province, and sent one of each to 5 willing Yukon craftspeople. The images would get a second look through different eyes and be interpreted with new perspectives and new materials. In addition, I challenged myself and the others to have a second look at our customary materials and processes, and incorporate someone else’s materials somewhere in our work.
This created an exhibition of 20 small scale interpretations of 10 landscapes, where the viewer would take a second look at the pairs to see similarities, differences, and anything shared. The name of the show also stems from finding that after the first glance at a miniature landscape, most viewers realize that there is more to the work, and move in closer for a second look. They move in until they are so close that their field of view is filled, and their surroundings lose their attention. This closeness makes the experience of the landscape more personal.
My pieces are created with layers of Bronze, Copper, German Silver and Sterling Silver, with enamel, paint, wood and steel.
Working in the Yukon, Leslie Leong, Helen O’Connor, Shiela Alexandrovich, Jeanine Baker and Marlene Collins use Clay, Encaustic, Fibre, Natural Materials, Paper, Glass, Beads, Leather, found materials and much more. None of them typically ‘does Landscape.’ The most exciting part for me is that so far (May 20th 2015) I have no idea what each of these craftspeople are going to do. We will all see each other’s work for the first time when we hang the show in Whitehorse at the Focus Gallery of Arts Underground on June 5th 2015, It will open in The Alberta Craft Council’s Discovery Gallery on September 2015.