An interpretive essay response to Michaela Bridgemohan’s exhibition, embalmbed funks by Karis Dimas-Lehndorf
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An interpretive essay response to Puppets Forsakens’ exhibition, The Noisebau.
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An interpretive essay response to Natasha Harvey’s exhibition, Layered Landscapes: Landscape Art, Politics, and Love.
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An interpretive essay response to Christine D’Onofrio’s cat cat cat by Claire Geddes Bailey.
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But what did you come here for?
I’m often asked.
Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine…
You mean?
Well, it must be for the nature; the remoteness, the space, the experience, the beauty.
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On December 3rd, 2022, Katherine Pickering met with M.E. Sparks over Zoom to discuss her exhibition of new work at the Alternator Center for Contemporary Art. This is an excerpt of that conversation.
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I swear I saw something. It was right there, in front me. Nothing scary, nothing bizarre, I think. More like a form, something that has a presence, a form. It was tall. Not that tall. A bit shorter than that maybe. It was right there. I say a form but that might be misleading.
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What is time, and how do we experience it? Recent and ongoing events have made us all aware that
time is as fragile as it is precious. If the order of time were to collapse, for whom would it matter?
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“There can be no repetition,” wrote Gertrude Stein, “because the essence of that expression is insistence, and if you insist you must each time use emphasis and if you use emphasis it is not possible while anybody is alive that they should use exactly the same emphasis.” Here, in Figure as Index, images repeat.
Read MoreOur current archeological record suggests that the earliest human-made mirrors were created approximately 8,000 years ago in southern Anatolia, or what is now south-central Turkey. These Neolithic mirrors, unearthed in the settlement of Çatalhöyük, are round or ovoid, approximately palm-sized, and were painstakingly crafted from obsidian, a deep black volcanic glass, with very finely polished, slightly convex surfaces.
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We are failing to protect Earth because we assign global governance to the United Nations. We forget that in this geo-political world, nature knows no national borders. Who speaks for Earth? We need a new assembly, United Earth, with representatives from earth scientists, global finance, and green NGOs. Even if we achieve Net-Zero through United Nations efforts at COP26, it will not be enough. All nations have a voice through the United Nations. Earth needs her own voice to be heard through a new assembly, United Earth.
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S.C. Jean, who I have always known as Sandra Cook, has lived in Kelowna for about 25 years and is a beloved and cherished presence within the art and music scene. If you have attended any live music shows in Kelowna you most likely have seen her in the audience – frequently she can be found snapping pictures of the people in the band or of her friends, who she refers to as her “kids”. If not at a music venue, you would definitely run into her at an opening or volunteering here at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary. You may have seen her photos gracing the walls at Fernando’s Pub or in the back office at the gallery. Having your photo taken and placed on one of these walls is a coveted achievement and means that you are part of the “in” crowd. Though she is well-known and liked by many because of these activities I have primarily got to know Jean through her paintings.
Read MoreThe artist Holly Ward makes work that has run a course through a retro optimism towards a darker, more anxious meditation on our collective future. Ward’s pieces are constructed across mediums, using sculpture, multi-media installation, architecture, video and drawing. Her work produces material investigations as tools for an audience to deeper analyze late-stage capitalism. Ward acquired an MFA (Studio) from the University of Guelph in 2006, a BFA (Interdisciplinary Studio) from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, and a BA (English Major, Fine Arts Minor), from the University of New Brunswick.
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