We were on Bowen Island for a few days visiting Boris’ family over the long weekend. The forecast said it would rain all weekend but it turned out to be pretty darn nice. I swear I take the exact same collection of photos every time I am on Bowen.
Category: Inspiration
Inspiring Art in Seattle and Bellevue
Boris and I did a quick trip to Seattle over the weekend. We went down to hear our friend Lee Lefever speak at the Seattle chapter of Creative Mornings, and to visit friends.
We spent a bit of time on Friday wandering the streets and visiting a few galleries. I was so thrilled to see the work of Andy Kehoe in person at Roq la Rue gallery. He works in layers of resin and paint, which gives the work depth and detail, but unfortunately this doesn’t come through in photographs. I’ve admired his work online for years, but they are so much better in person.
Detail of Twilight Rendevous by Andy Kehoe
Detail of Valley of the Ghoul by Andy Kehoe
Detail of Invoking The Heart of The Wild by Andy Kehoe
We also did a quick trip to the Bellevue Arts Museum to see Folding Paper: The Infinite Possibilities of Origami. It was an extra inspiring bonus to see exhibitions of work by Kathy Venter and Dan Webb.
Figurative sculpture by Kathy Venter, an artist based on Salt Spring Island.
Surreal wood carved sculpture by Dan Webb.
Folding Paper was a terrific survey of origami work from artists and designers around the world. There were many pieces of traditional work, but my favourites were the pleated fold-style of sculptural origami, as well as some of the modular work.
The origami show continues until September, but the exhibitions by Kathy Venter and Dann Webb ended this past weekend. It’s worth the visit to the museum because they always have wonderful craft-based shows that we don’t have the exhibition space for in Vancouver.
Hot Talks @ Hot Art Wet City: Chris Tyrell Loranger
I am so pleased to have Chris Tyrell Loranger as the next speaker at Hot Talks. I consider him a mentor as well as a friend, and he’s been an incredible creative force in Vancouver arts and culture for almost forty years.
So you want to be an artist, with dreams of playing in a studio all day making art? It’s an idealized vision, but the reality of working as a professional artist is that society fails to support and sustain the arts and artists on many fronts. The education system fails us, because creativity is not recognized as a core academic value; the arts are considered an educational option. And working professional artists are statistically destined to be poor and untrained.
Join us as Chris Tyrell Loranger shares his ideas around making changes to the arts in Vancouver and beyond.
Read the full description here.
The latest Hot Talk happens on June 24th at 7pm. Tickets are by donation and are available for purchase through Eventbrite.
Hot Talks: Chris Tyrell Loranger
Hot Art Wet City
Date: June 24th, 2014
Time: Doors 6:30, talk 7pm
Address: 2206 Main Street (at 6th Ave), Vancouver
Around the World Blog Hop
I was invited by Kim Werker to participate in an Around the World Blog Hop. (Yes, we are in the same city rather than on the other side of the world, but no one is going to call us on it). These are my answers to the four questions related to my creative practice. You can read Kim’s answers here.
What am I working on?
I feel as if I am working on a ridiculous amount of stuff at the moment. I have a show coming up later this year in Vancouver and I’m creating a new series of paper cut pieces for this. At the same time I need to put together work for a show happening in Halifax in 2015, because this exhibition will be larger. These are longer term deadlines I am working towards, while also completing a commission of fifteen small paper cut designs for a client, and preparing work to exhibit at Vancouver Mini Maker Faire this past weekend.
I curate the speaker series, Hot Talks, for Hot Art Wet City gallery, and I am in the process of scheduling people for the remaining months of 2014. I’ve also recently started hosting an Art & Craft Social evening at the gallery, and have been working on outreach to make sure the next event is well attended.
How does my work differ from others of its genre?
Hmmm. I’m not sure how to answer this question because I’m uncertain of the genre I fit into. I sometimes feel like an anomaly because my art has evolved dramatically over the past five or six years. I was a photographer for about fifteen years, and I stumbled into creating paper based art first in the form of collage, then altered book sculpture, and now paper cutting.
I think the paper cutting work I create is distinctly different from most of the work people typically see, which is illustrative, while my work is very abstract. I also don’t draw the designs first. I create them directly with the knife and create the composition as I go.
Why do I write/create what I do?
I create because I need to. I get antsy if too much time passes and I haven’t cut, drawn, baked, crafted, or done making in some form. My brain needs to create in order to stay sane. I think this is the case for many creative people.
With the paper cut work specifically I am drawn to the process of it, to the feel of the knife slicing through the paper and creating these intricate designs from simple shapes. It’s such satisfying work to me. I am not a patient person but the work gives me focus, and teaches me to be disciplined, otherwise I’d never get one completed.
How does my writing/creating process work?
I have a self-directed artistic practice and it is centered around process driven work. I start with the materials at hand, a piece of white paper, a fresh blade in my xacto knife, and a cutting mat on a desk top easel. I begin to cut a simple shape, which I repeat over and over until the work feels done. I work in a freeform way and let things develop as I go.
Cross-Stitch Installation at Patria Restaurant in Toronto
On the weekend I caught up on uploading to Flickr the rest of my photos from my trip to Toronto in March, most of which is graffiti. Reviewing the photos reminded me of our brunch at Patria Restaurant on King Street with friends of Boris on our last weekend in town. I chose the restaurant simply because I wanted to see the incredible cross-stitch installation in person. Thank goodness the food was as amazing as the interior design.
The cross-stitch wall is done on a metal screen overlaying the background image directly on the wall. The effect is stunning and the scale of this is impressive.
The installation is a collaboration between Commute Home, artist Laura Carwardine, and Marlo Onilla of Biography Design. Watch the video below to see how they pulled this huge project together.
Making of Patria Restaurant Cross Stitch Art Installation from Henry Salonen on Vimeo.
In Celebration of Spring Flowers
Yep. I LOVE spring.
Hot Talks @ Hot Art Wet City: Billy Marchenski & Alison Denham
The upcoming speakers at Hot Talks at Hot Art Wet City in April are two of the interesting people who live in my East Van building, Billy Marchenski and Alison Denham. We know each other in passing, and this was my excuse to hear more about they do as dancers, performers, and choreographers.
Alison Denham and Billy Marchenski present choreography and slideshow excerpts from their piece Slowpoke, a performance inspired by their experiences visiting the Chornobyl Exclusion zone in the Fall of 2011. Slowpoke starts off as a pilgrimage to rediscover lost roots and turns into an analysis of ideas of authenticity and human beings’ relationship to the eternal in everyday life.
Read the full description here.
Join us for this latest Hot Talk on April 24th at 7pm. Tickets are by donation and are available for purchase through Eventbrite.
Hot Talks: Billy Marchenski & Alison Denham
Hot Art Wet City
Date: April 24th, 2014
Time: Doors 6:30, talk 7pm
Address: 2206 Main Street (at 6th Ave), Vancouver
Kimonos at the Textile Museum of Canada
Many years ago I worked as a photographer part-time at the Textile Museum of Canada in Toronto. It was an amazing opportunity to be hands-on with a very special collection of objects, and be exposed to a huge variety of beautiful things from all over the world. I was part of their early efforts to document and digitize the permanent collection, which at the time was around 10,000 objects.
The experience really broadened my knowledge of what the word “textile” means, and inspired me to explore different media beyond photography. Of course a visit to the Textile Museum was a must do while I’m in Toronto, and I was thrilled to see a collection of kimonos and obis on display.
As you can see, I took many photos while I was there. The details of the kimonos are intricate and delicate. It’s an amazing display of wearable art.
There’s a mix of embroidery, shibori, and painted details on all of these beautiful things. It’s an amazing amount of work that goes into each piece.
It was a very inspiring visit, and I was glad to connect with a place that was such a privilege to work at when I lived in Toronto.
Hot Talks @ Hot Art Wet City with Julien Thomas
Our next speaker at Hot Talks at Hot Art Wet City is Julien Thomas, a Social Artist and Facilitator based in Vancouver.
His recent initiatives include Park-a-Park, Vancouver’s first mobile park, and the Commercial Drive Parklet which was successfully funded through Kickstarter in late 2013. Julien pursues his passion by creating spaces that forge new connections and radically engage participants.
Confessions of an Urban Interventionist
We find ourselves in a concrete reality of streets, curbs, and sidewalks that guide our daily path. Despite this hard situation, we do have a choice: What if we decided to step off the curb and chart new directions? What actually compels us to walk the straight and narrow?
Read the full description here.
Join us for the latest Hot Talk on March 27th at 7pm. Tickets are by donation and are available for purchase through Eventbrite.
Hot Talks: Julien Thomas
Hot Art Wet City
Date: March 27th, 2014
Time: Doors 6:30, talk 7pm
Address: 2206 Main Street (at 6th Ave), Vancouver
Studious Paper Sculpture
While in Toronto I’ve been venturing out to galleries every day this week, despite whatever terrible thing the weather throws our way. On Tuesday I wandered the hallways of 401 Richmond while a storm raged away outside, and yesterday I visited The Power Plant and Harbourfront Center. All are favourite places from my previous life in Toronto, so it was pleasing to see how they’ve evolved over the last ten years.
The highlight of yesterday was coming across multiple paper sculptures in Studious, a show in the Harbourfront Gallery featuring a variety of craft-based work.
Black Cloud is a massive installation of black paper and rubber or wire tubing (I’m not sure which) created by Amanda McCavour. It is magnificent, huge, and extremely inspiring to my paper-loving self. The photos don’t really do it justice, but I had to share it.
Across the gallery are three paper works by Lizz Aston. They are hand cut work, and made from dyed kozo paper. It’s hard to tell from the photos but these pieces are large and float a couple inches away from the wall. Again I found this work the exact thing that stimulates ideas in my own brain. It’s the kind of scale I hope to finally achieve in my own work this year.
Read more about the Studious show here.