2023 saw the almost return to normal as galleries and restaurants re-opened, and people began to reimagine how their lives might go forward. I was in the process of developing a studio space in my garage, where I hoped to work on larger pieces, when I received an invitation to participate in a group exhibition in Edmonton at the Art Gallery of Alberta. Preparing for this took most of the summer, although I have also been working on larger sculptures and smaller roundels, which I am taking outside to paint plein air.
Between Things is curated by Lindsey Sharman and Diana Sherlock, and includes fifteen artists working in ceramics. I felt very honoured to be in this company, and to be considered "Albertan." For more, please see here.
Due to the short lead time, my piece, Wake, comprises parts scavenged from my earlier exhibition All Consuming, augmented by a number of new pieces of detritus. The installation photographs were taken by Charles Cousins, courtesy of the Art Gallery of Alberta.
Regarding the work, I have written the following:
Wake refers to a number of meanings, both nouns and verbs:
Noun:
I am thinking about all of these possible meanings--the destruction and disturbances our civilization leaves in its wake, the mourning we are experiencing with the destruction of nature and the future (i.e. solastalgia), the burning of the forests, the decimation of the environment caused by our addiction to consumption, and also the idea of exhorting us to “wake up!”
Between Things is curated by Lindsey Sharman and Diana Sherlock, and includes fifteen artists working in ceramics. I felt very honoured to be in this company, and to be considered "Albertan." For more, please see here.
Due to the short lead time, my piece, Wake, comprises parts scavenged from my earlier exhibition All Consuming, augmented by a number of new pieces of detritus. The installation photographs were taken by Charles Cousins, courtesy of the Art Gallery of Alberta.
Regarding the work, I have written the following:
Wake refers to a number of meanings, both nouns and verbs:
Noun:
- the waves that a moving ship or object leaves behind
- an area of water whose movement has been changed by a boat or ship moving through it
- a gathering held before a dead person is buried, at which family and friends talk about the person’s life
- idioms: in the wake of something/leave something in your wake (i.e. leave destruction in its wake)
- to become awake and conscious after sleeping, or to cause someone to stop sleeping:
- to start to react to a situation after a period in which you have done very little, or to make someone start to react to a situation
I am thinking about all of these possible meanings--the destruction and disturbances our civilization leaves in its wake, the mourning we are experiencing with the destruction of nature and the future (i.e. solastalgia), the burning of the forests, the decimation of the environment caused by our addiction to consumption, and also the idea of exhorting us to “wake up!”