Projects

Non-chronological projects

Grass works, summer

Continuum

Studio

 

 

 

 

‘knock on woods’ cabin/tent, Mayne Island residency

O N G O I N G .   N O N – C H R O N O  L O G I C A L .       INSTALLATIONS. PROJECTS.

In 2008, Yvette Porter put out a Call for Artists as part of her ongoing international Knock on Woods project. I was accepted to participate in the on-site residency on Mayne Island where I spent an afternoon gathering flora & fauna, cutting to size and capturing them in slide frames.

Slides in Knock on Woods cabin.

For more information about this project by Yvette Porter, see her book Dwellings for Intervals http://www.conundrumpress.com/wp/?page_id=405 or check out her amazing website http://thisneckofthewoods.net/

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After moving into my current live-work studio, I began several sculptural installation projects that continue to morph and grow in the space and studio entrance way. They are visual conceptualizations of my thoughts about man & the elements; our interaction, destruction, rebuilding and co-existence with nature.

M A N   M A D E   F O R E S T

Plywood: architectural elements. Branch: natural element. Coloured thread wrappings: human element.

1.2.3.

3.4.

There are seven pieces in this series thus far; more to come…

 

S T U D I O  E N T R A N C E   2008-2011

Various little installations, visual thoughts, words, ideas.

entrance

D W E L L

Inspired by a stunning photograph of a fragment of the tragic Hurricane Katrina`s warpath, I began to build a small village of ‘homes’ lined in lush fabrics like velvets, silks and linens. Made from cardboard of fabric sample books I rescued from the landfill, they are raw, unrefined and valueless. The idea of the home structure,  its significance and uncertainty is paralleled with these small buildings; the obvious instability of these structures offers a visual metaphor for our day to day experience and the need for something more lasting than walls & floors.

ALL THESE DAYS

I put together this installation for the first group show ‘Uncommon Wealth’ at the ARC (Artist Resource Centre). My neighbour and longtime friend Wendy D, with help from a number of neighbours and artists, organized the transformation of the building’s dance room into a gallery space that is still in use today.

This piece is the result of a daily practice of taking a photograph at 7:30am each morning for a month (the three blank days were ones where I was out of town), recording the difference in sky, sun rise times and weather; the things we often don’t take the time to notice. The photos, printed on vellum, with a layer of plastic overtop that noted my daily activities and thoughts. I chose to display these in a calendar layout on the wall of mirrors, on top of stream of consciousness writing in china marker. It seemed to be a good metaphor for our selves, what we chose to look at and appreciate and what sometimes gets lost in the mix.

‘all these days’

close up, text ‘all these days’

S H E D

In 2005, Ben Burnett, Jason Cyr and myself formed a small collective to co-produce installation/performance art pieces. Our first piece was to celebrate ‘art’s birthday’. Again, using the ARC as a starting point and throwing around the idea that not many people passing by the old, former warehouse building on Powell Street knew what goes on behind the walls or even that it housed eighty artists live/work studios, we came up with this seven day performance. Each morning for half an hour, when the West bound traffic was at its heaviest (7:30-8:00am) we projected film and photos of ourselves viewing the oncoming traffic through binoculars. The images were 10 feet x 4 feet, the size of the window and directed downward toward the street. On Saturday, the actual ‘birthday’ of art, we showed a birthday cake celebration. It garnered some attention with calls from the Globe & Mail, CTV and a couple of radio stations mentioned the event on air. However, we never did get feedback from any drivers. We can only imagine…

s h e d : performance/installation

EVENTS at Alley Pad Studio  2008-2011

Sadly, when the City of Vancouver was assessing my studio for code requirements, and threatened to evict me for various reasons, I took down my events page on which I had proudly displayed all the invites & photos from home concerts, book readings, plays, pop-up restaurants, drum circles, music jams, open studios, dinner parties, birthday parties, surprise parties and even a Canadian citizenship party. I’ve found a few visuals to share here. (And yes, I did move on from Alley Pad Studios when the City insisted on the installation of a sprinkler system into the former clothing factory. Even though the landlords fought hard to keep me in the 1700 square foot live/work studio, it was not meant to be. It kickstarted more great adventures & I am eternally grateful for all that has transpired during and since then!)