"If you chase two rabbits, you catch neither" is the teaser for a series of multi-media art exhibitions being featured at the SAMC Gallery in TWU's Norma Marion Alloway Library, from September 16, 2020 through January 10, 2021.
A dynamic collection of work from six senior artists, The Rabbit You Chase is an exhibition investigating the passions, curiosities, questions and ideas of artists on the edge of graduation into the unknown.
This three-act, multi-media exhibition explores the liminality and structure of place, our relationship with the natural world, and the complexities of identity and childhood.
Watch SAMC Gallery Exhbitions interviews with the artists:
Act I: Janae Gartly, Brendan Dixon, and Leonard Noort
Act I presents a dialogue on the relationship humans have with their surroundings and the transitions that both undergo. It features the works of Janae Gartly, Brendan Dixon, and Leonard Noort. Together, these works invite viewers to contemplate how we perceive the places around us, and how records of the past can inform how we see the future.
Gartly's Reliquary investigates time and memory through an installation of relics that offers a parallel between the evolution of place and the movement of the self through time. While walking through an area that was being buldozed for new housing, Gartly was inspired by the "transient nature of the place and the objects left behind by the people who had lived there." Among the relics, she discovered signs of “another life that wasn’t there anymore." As part of her installation, a moving hand projected on the wall exuded a sense of time travel.
Dixon's Gridded Geographies uses the language of the grid and cartography to discern the historical relationship of power humans have exerted over space and the natural environment. By exploring his interest in maps and systems of organization, Dixon sought to "visually integrate the organic nature of the environment" over and against the "geometric precision of the human grid."
"In mapmaking we are selective about what we choose to represent. This results in an abstracted human version of reality that we rely on to survey, plan and build our human environment," Dixon said.
"Western society has a past of exerting power and influence over places. This reflects itself in the way we organize and build spaces, how we treat the geography of the land and its resources, and how we desire an all-seeing view over things," he observed.
Noort's Driftwood explores the intricacies of nature through driftwood-like sculptures carved from books, encouraging reflection on humans' connection to the natural world. "A tree was cut, made into a book and carved back into what it was from the beginning," Noort said. It is "a playful way to show humanity’s connection to nature," he explained.
Act II: Yuheng Chen and Maya Jusman
Act II presents the work of Yuheng Chen and Maya Jusman as they delve into the intricacies of human identity and persona. Together, these two exhibits illustrate the creation, concealment, and projection of the human ego in a kaleidoscope of shape and colour.
Chen's realistic / illusion explores the pressures of societal roles and outward personas, pulling inspiration from animation and other popular media to create graphic masks that represent the identities that we hide behind.
His project features a series of masks made with lazer cut wood. The seven wooden masks draw inspiration from pop culture and from Chinese traditional opera, where Chen saw the masks as "a sign of hiding or switching identities."
"We all have to wear masks and play roles in society. We draw new faces that conform to what others want us to be," Chen said. "But those masks are not a part of ourselves."
Jusman's @Kick.mayass uses social media to display surreal, psychedelic animations that project her shifting emotions and identity onto various photographed subjects, and by extension, the viewer.
Jusman shared that her project started as a daily diary of photos, which were paired with throught-provoking captions. "I went a little wacky with the captions," she said. "I wanted to go a little crunchier, dirtier, a little more disgusting." Through her work, Jusman sought to convey complex emotions, "like disgust together with excitement," she explained, and "maybe self-loathing mixed with a little throwing your cares to the wind."
Act III: Sierra Ellis
Act III presents an immersive installation by Sierra Ellis. Fortress is a whimsical maze of colourful textiles and childhood objects that echoes the security of a childhood blanket fort. However, this security conceals a deeper theme that Ellis narrates, exploring a facet of childhood and growing up that is often unseen.
This Act closes out an exhibition that captures a year's worth of work through trial, error, and success that sits at the threshold of a journey forward, wherever that may be.
Thus, the artists leave audiences with one question: What rabbit will you chase?
See the SAMC EventStream for more upcoming events:
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is Canada’s premier Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students to establish meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. It is a fully accredited research institution offering liberal arts and sciences, as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has five campuses and locations: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, Ottawa, and Bellingham, WA. TWU emphasizes academic excellence, research, and student engagement in a vital faith community committed to forming leaders to have a transformational impact on culture. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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