Flower-burst Installation

April 7, 2014

What began as playing around in the studio last July, evolved into a long term side project by September, has become an intricate paper installation for Voices From Another Room.

I’d always had the idea in mind to create something larger from this series of small paper cut “flower-bursts” but until fairly recently, I had no idea how to bring them together. I’d considered stitching them, but decided the thinly cut paper was too fragile.

When I was experimenting with pining these to a wall, the pins were to delicate and difficult to penetrate the surface of the wall. I decided to use a piece of black foamcore as my base, which also allowed me to place and arrange the flower-bursts in layers. Eventually I figured out I needed to cut the foamcore into small circles of various sizes and have the installation become a modular piece I can arrange in various formations.

The end result is what you see above.

I’ve decided to keep making these and eventually create an even larger arrangement for a show I’m doing a year from now. At the moment I have just over one hundred individual paper cut flower-bursts, but how will it look with two or three hundred…?

Exhibition Photos: Voices From Another Room

April 3, 2014

Tonight is the opening reception for Voices From Another Room: Five Artists Explore Paper at Hot Art Wet City. The show features work by Connie Sabo, Joseph Wu, Sarah Gee Miller, Alison Woodward, and me.

These are photos of the exhibition I took yesterday after we finished installing all the work.

Detail of work by Joseph Wu

Detail of work by Connie Sabo

Detail of my paper cut sculptures

Detail of my paper cut installation.

Collage work by Sarah Gee Miller.

Detail of work by Alison Woodward.

A collaborative installation between work by Connie Sabo and me.

Voices From Another Room: Five Artists Explore Paper
Hot Art Wet City
Dates: April 3rd to 25th
Opening Reception: April 3rd, 7pm to 11pm
Location: 2206 Main Street at 6th Avenue

Altered Book Workshop at Hot Art Wet City

March 31, 2014

I am teaching an altered book workshop in conjunction with Voices From Another Room at Hot Art Wet City in April. I get many requests for this workshop throughout the year, but this is the first one I’ve scheduled since sometime in 2012.

The class takes place on Sunday April 13th, 12:30pm to 4:30pm, at Hot Art Wet City gallery located at Main and 6th Avenue.

Student work in progress from previous classes.

The altered book workshop is an introduction on how to create sculpture from books, using techniques like folding, cutting, rolling, and working with three dimensional objects. The goal is to inspire participants, and guide each person through creating a finished piece of work by the end of class.

To read the full description of the class as well as sign up, please visit the Hot Art Wet City web site »

Voices From Another Room: Five Artists Explore Paper

March 25, 20141 Comment

Voices From Another Room: Five Artists Explore Paper
Hot Art Wet City gallery in Vancouver

This exhibition showcases paper as an artistic medium unto itself, and demonstrates its versatility beyond the role of a mere surface for other materials.

Rachael Ashe, Alison Woodward, Sarah Gee Miller, Connie Sabo, and Joseph Wu produce strikingly different styles of work but approach working intimately with paper through similar methods. Each of the five artists transforms their materials using one or more techniques of cutting, folding, twisting, painting but with a unique take on the end result. The work in this exhibition reveals the infinite possibilities of paper as alchemical material in the creation of intriguing pieces of fine art and craft.

Please join us for the opening reception on Thursday April 3rd, 7pm to 11pm. The show continues until Friday April 25th, 2014.

Voices From Another Room
Hot Art Wet City
Date: April 3rd to 25th
Location: 2206 Main Street (at 6th Avenue)

Kimonos at the Textile Museum of Canada

March 20, 2014

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.

Opus In-Store Demo: Freeform Paper Cutting Techniques Returns

March 18, 2014

Coming up in April I will be on location at Opus Art Supplies Hastings Street location giving an in-store demo of paper cutting techniques. The demo is FREE but you must register by phone (604‑678‑5889) to reserve a spot as space is limited.

This is the first demo I’ve done since last September, and for the first time it’s happening on a week day. I hope you can join me.

Opus Artist Demo: Freeform Paper Cutting Techniques
Two hour in-store demo at the Hastings Street location of Opus Art Supplies.
Date: Wednesday April 9th, 2014
Time: 12pm & 2pm
Cost: Free
Location: Opus Art Supplies, 100-207 West Hastings Street

Hot Talks @ Hot Art Wet City with Julien Thomas

March 18, 2014

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

March 14, 20142 Comments

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.

Baroque Stairway at the AGO

March 12, 2014

I was really excited to pay a visit to the AGO last week as I haven’t been there in years, and long before the Gehry renovation. The building is so spectacular that it overshadowed the art a bit. The first thing Boris and I went to see was the Baroque Stair leading to the new wing, and we spent a long time looking at it from top to bottom.