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Jean Halstead |
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Opening date:
Friday, July 18 at 7:00pm
Workshops:
Contemplative Geometry
Instructor: Barbara Brown
Wednesday, July 23, 6:30 pm to 9:30pm: Fee $30
Monoprint
Instructors: Svetlana Swiminer & Joyce Westrop
Wednesday, 10am - 1pm: July 30,
Fee: $30 + $10 materials
or
Sunday, 1pm - 5pm: Aug 10,
Fee: $30 + $10 materials
Movement and Mark
Instructor: Kenneth Emig
Sunday, July 20, 1 pm to 4:30,
Fee: $30
Workshops to be held at EBA- 951 Gladstone Avenue
T. 613.230.2799 to register.
ARTISTS
Joyce Westrop, Cindy Stelmackovich, Amy Thompson, Carl Stewart, Barbara Brown, Sarah Anderson, Uta Riccius, Jean Halstead, Daniel Sharp, Juliana McDonald, Marika Jemma, Hedda Sidla, Svetlana Swinimer, Tavi Weisz, Kenneth Emig, Dipna Horra, Karen Jordon, Gayle Kells.
Perceptually speaking, when viewing something vertical a strange thing happens to our vision. Objects tend to diminish in size in an unusual manner. When we look at the moon on the horizon, it can appear tremendously large. As it travels upwards in the sky, it seems to get smaller - even though it is the same distance away. Verticality could imply hierarchy as one has to look up to see the top. It could also indicate a journey upward, away from our earthy existence or up the ladder of success.
Each artist in the Enriched Bread Artist collective (EBA) has a unique way of approaching the subject of verticality. The collective is accustomed to working along common subject lines as they regularly host exhibitions in the communal space they occupy on Gladstone that houses their studios. This does not mean that the work is similar, rather the use of common themes presented in different ways points to the diversity of each artist’s approach.
Juliana MacDonald and Carl Stewart both use the butterfly to explore the fragility of life. MacDonald’s multi-layered work uses the cocoon to show the possibility of a life not yet achieved or possibly not to be realized. Stewart’s work takes a more personal tone and recalls the process of grief. Butterflies as a symbol of good luck were a common decoration on houses in the 1950s and 1960s. They can fly upwards and away, but if we try to grasp them too tightly, they will die. In addition, dealing with themes of mortality, Marika Jemma utilizes found materials to build a sculptural piece, which reflects the process of growth and decay, birth and death.
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Glimmer - Amy Thompson |
Garbage – the traces of our existence - can speak to the excesses of western culture and form the basis of a social critique that concerns the environment. Joyce Westrop uses found materials such as exploded tires from the side of roadways to construct a skewed ladder that seems to attempt to reach the sky. In this case, the ladder, if scaled, would collapse and make the climb futile, similar to the linear concept of progress. Uta Riccius upsets the expected concept of verticality by collapsing the visual space of her work. Her cast objects, made from plastic materials that would have been thrown out, are placed neatly on this flattened space. Karen Jordon is another artist who is concerned with the environment. Her work is constructed from materials that also would have been discarded – in this case donated pieces of cassette tapes. These artists play with the idea of consumption and waste in our society.
Gayle Kells’ 1950’s formal dress of recycled butter wrappers articulates concepts of the body and our obsession with image. One pound of fat is equal to one pound of butter. Amy Thompson’s girl is looking longingly to a ladder that is beyond her grasp as it lacks bottom rungs. Issues of sexually, identity and perfection are apparent in their work. The body is important to Cindy Stelmackowich's work, as well. She critically questions the way that medical science constructs and deconstructs perceptions surrounding the body.
Tavi Weisz’s people could either be climbing or falling. Metaphorically speaking, one could lead to the other; on any climb to the top, gravity can take hold and force us to the bottom. Conversely, Barbara Brown celebrates the power of the circle to heal, for her verticality is expressed through a perpetual cyclical flow that achieves balance.
Three artists who play with abstraction in the keenest sense are Dipna Horra, Sarah Anderson and Daniel Sharp. Dipna’s two-dimensional works explode with brilliant colour and expressive composition. Sarah Anderson’s forms and colours visually play with the eye and each other. Daniel Sharp’s compositions, inspired by shapes found in nature, are reminiscent of the shadows they cast. The shadows hint at the solidity of the object, while maintaining the suggestion of their fragility. Painter Hedda Sidla’s works display her interest in the landscape, through use of patterns and form. These works, though not literal translations of any given location, capture the mood and intuitive memory of place.
Science has been challenging our construction of space through theories that makes probable parallel universes and multiple dimensions. Works that incorporate and hint at new possibilities surrounding these ideas are Svetlana Swinimer, Jean Halstead and Kenneth Emig. These artists appear to go beyond the three-dimensional space that we occupy. While each work is unique, they all transport us into unpredicted spaces that allow us to imagine beyond the expected.
Finally, does viewing vertically imply that one is looking from the bottom up, or the top down? One EBA artist explained the concept in relation to the Greek myth of Icarus. His desire to fly was so great that despite grave warnings from his father, upon the granting of his wax and feather wings, he flew to close to the sun. Icarus, with shards of melting wings falling around him, plummeted to the earth and died. Multiple interpretation and investigations of verticality have allowed the artists from the Enriched Bread Artist Collective to create a unique exhibition. While diversity makes its presence known, the works hold together and allow us to imagine beyond one single or simple explanation.
Leanne L’Hirondelle
Director/Curator
Enriched Bread Artists
Enriched Bread Artists (EBA) is a multivalent collective of diverse Ottawa artists. The collective takes its name from the fact that the cooperatively run studio group is located in a former bread factory. Originally formed in 1992 by graduates of the University of Ottawa, the member artists have changed over time, in an ongoing artistic ferment. EBA is an art studio and an artistic laboratory. Today EBA is the biggest artist studio co-op building in the Ottawa region. Artists in the collective show their work locally, nationally and internationally. For the Ottawa community, EBA artists present an annual studio open house every October.
Daniel Sharp
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Joyce Westrop is a contemporary artist using social critique as a starting point within a broader aesthetic of materials and process. Joyce is currently at Enriched Bread Artist Studios employing drawing, printmaking and sculpture in her quest. www.joycewestrop.com
Cindy Stelmackowich's work has focused on themes related to medical science: she has re-invented antique laboratory equipment and has digitally altered vintage anatomical illustrations. This year her work will be shown in Toronto, Ottawa, and Los Angeles.
Amy Thompson is an Ottawa-based mixed media artist. Her work has been exhibited in cities across Canada, US and Europe. Amy is represented in Ottawa by the Dale Smith Gallery. www.amyalice.com
Carl Stewart is a weaver. He has been a member of the Enriched Bread Artists since 1997. Carl Stewart gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the City of Ottawa
Barbara Brown is exploring the ways in which an artistic practice can function as a healing force. Currently her practice incorporates photo documents of constructions of natural material informed by a personal practice of mandala painting.
Sarah Anderson is a visual artist whose paintings are produced out of an obsessive love of colour and form. These two factors create a cohesive whole that evokes emotion and draws the viewer into the painting.
Past president of Gallery 101, Uta Riccius is currently sitting on the Board of Directors for The Ottawa Art Gallery. She exhibits regionally, nationally and internationally, balancing a studio practice at EBA with teaching full time at a CEGEP.
Trained as a sculptor in Japan and France, Jean Halstead now devotes attention to videos, photography and sculpture. She has collaborated since 1996 with Svetlana Swinimer on science-oriented art installations and "public art".
Daniel Sharp b. 1955. abstract painter. EBA member since 2005. former Artistic Director at Gallery 101 (1989-1991). drawn to beauty. serious about art. public servant in Foreign Affairs. father of two children. enjoys hockey. optimistic. generally grateful.
Juliana McDonald, BFA, explores concepts of impermanence, fragility and renewal in an ever-changing natural environment. The surfaces of both her oil paintings and collages are richly active evoking layers of time and memory. www.julianamcdonald.ca
With EBA since 1998, Marika Jemma works in film, video, installation and mixed media painting. She has recently developed a passion for working with children and building community through art-making.
Hedda Sidla's abstract oil and acrylic paintings evolve from an intuitive creative process, inspired by her fascination with the patterns, colors and forms of the topographical landscape. Hedda is also a photographer and art instructor.
Svetlana Swinimer studied Art in Russia, Canada and Africa. She works in: painting, sculpture, installation, video, and photography. In collaboration with Jean Halstead, she produced works inspired by science. In 2006 they completed a 2-ton stainless steel sculpture for the city of Ottawa.
Tavi Weisz is an Ottawa based visual artist. His work has been exhibited in cities in Canada and Europe. His practice involves painting, installation, video, performance.
Kenneth Emig is an interdisciplinary artist who integrates sound, sculpture, optics, dance and technology within his artistic practice. He recently created and performed a site specific commission for the 2008 Canada Dance Festival.
Dipna Horra's practice is based in mixed media explorations and interdisciplinary collaborations. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, New York, Dubai, U.A.E. and London, U.K.
Karen Jordon has been a member of the Enriched Bread Artists since 1992. Her process-based art involves the collection and manipulation of discarded belongings and ready-made objects.
Gayle Kells’ paintings, drawings and mixed media work address female identity issues using recurring images such as the dress, mannequins, undergarments, and the full-figured female form. She has received two City of Ottawa art grants to pursue her work.
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