Artists Down Under
Demonstrating Artist Residency Program
The AU Residency Program ran June 28th to August 14th and featured 7 artists working with different materials and techniques.
All finished works from the summer's demonstrating residency program were displayed in our Community Studio in an end of season exhibition.
2010 PAST RESIDENCIES
April Clyburne-Sherin
Demonstrating August 17th-21st
Go Tell It
Are we part of the land, or are we seperate from it? Do we share its stories, or do they not belong to us? Can we relate to the tales that mountains and rivers tell us through their lines and their forms, and are we characters in their plots?
In the Yukon we are spoiled for mountain views and ancient rivers. We climb them, we build on them, we mine them, we move them, and we preserve them. In this way, we are part of them. But they change without us, they grow, erode, shift and swell. So maybe we are simply readers of their story.
Go Tell It will be an exploration of these questions by creating a project that incorporates the voice of a mountain range in a form that we use to tell our own tales: the book. It will replicate a real montain to scale from a topographic map, where every topographic line will dictate the shape and size of the books.
Visit April in the studio where you can talk to her about her project, watch her work or create a simple land book of your own. A table will be set with used paper, topographic maps and a stapler.
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| April Clyburne-Sherin |
April Clyburne-Sherin Porcelain, paper, linen, thread |
Marlene Collins
Demonstrating August 9th-13th
Marlene is a mixed media painter with an equally absorbing interest in hand building clay vessels and objects.
Her residency project will unite flat and sculptural elements and explore our relationship to our environment, our values and investments. Marlene will be referencing her recent hike over the Chilkoot Trail.
On the Tuesday and Friday of the week Marlene will be offering 2 different workshops; both from noon to 1pm. The first will cover simple techniques for hand building a clay vessel, which will be fired in the AU studio and smoke fired afterward by Marlene at her studio. Participants can pick up their pots a couple weeks later. The second workshop will be for those interested in trying encaustic painting. All materials will be supplied for both workshops. Participation limited to 8 students per workshop.
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| Artifacts and Bones on the Chilkoot Trail |
Marlene Collins, Whispers |
John Boivin
Demonstrating August 2nd-6th
Yukon landscape artist John Boivin will be bringing the beauty of the territorys' forests to the Arts Underground workshop... with a detour or two above ground during his residency!
John is known for his acrylic paintings that capture the look and feel of the territory's natural wonders. During his week as artist-in-residence, you can get the chance to view his creative process. John will start with a large blank canvas on Monday morning, and invite any interested members of the public to come with him to the Millenium Trail. There he'll sketch (and if it's nice, maybe paint a little) to get the canvas started. Then he'll return to the workshop space to complete the painting by Friday.
John will have several other of his works-in-progress in the gallery space, as well as books of artists that inspire him, as well as a demonstration of the equipment he uses to do his plein-air work.
As for audience participation, John plans to have the background of a forest scene ready, and invites you to help create one of his classic forest pictures. He'll help you along to learn to create a Yukon landscape in acrylic!
John Boivin
Susan Stuart
Demonstrating July 26th-30th
Susan works with needle felting. She has spent the past year experimenting with her medium. Her pieces are fun, slightly whimsical, and very colourful. She loves the detail she can achieve with needle felting, detail which to her makes the piece come alive. Colour is also very important as you will see by her work. Susan will be working on a couple of large animal sculptures for her week in residence.
There will be a mini needle felting workshop during Susan's residency. The hour long workshop will give someone enough time to felt a small picture or coaster, a sheep, a snowman, or a head with a face, or buttons, or whatever the imagination comes up with!
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| Susan Stuart, Untitled |
Cass Collins
Demonstrating July 19th-23rd
Cass is both an artist and designer. She loves to incorporate handmade work into
her design, and often infuses her illustration with a graphic look and strong design sense. Vintage
illustration, fine art galleries and hand-drawn typography are constant sources of inspiration.
For her week in residence Cass would like to demonstrate her process of painting with acrylics. Working in her bold, often cheerful, and colourful illustrative style, Cass will use as references her
many photographs of the Alaska Highway, to paint some of the people,
animals, and scenes that she has captured on roadtrips.
Join Cass in the studio Wednesday, July 21st and Friday, July 23rd from noon to 1pm and take part in a free mini acrylic painting workshop.
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| Cass Collins, I Wish I Had a Boyfriend |
Cass Collins, I Wish I Had a Girlfriend |
Jessica Vellenga
Demonstrating July 12th-16th
The work Jessica creates will contain her signature use of combining vintage images, antique textiles, embroidery and narrative relating to women's' experiences. Her work explores cultural and gender stereotypes and how they effect women's experience in relationships. Jessica will be embroidering these statements on vintage and antique women's clothing.
Watch for drop-in times when Jessica will be available to teach interested individuals basic stitches and embroidery.
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| Jessica Vellenga, Sons and Daughters |
Jessica Vellenga, Klondike Bound |
Martin Guimont
Demonstrating June 28th-July 2nd
Martin intends to realize an image and text project that links his visual and writing practices together. The project is based upon a series of photographs and drawings created during the residency.
The works relate to different places where Martin has taken artistic action or that are of strong significance to him. The images would be accompanied by short texts or sentences, adding a narrative dimension to the chosen sites. The text related to the images could be poetic or more rational, depending on the evocative contexts.
Join us in following the evolution of Martin's project throughout the week as he adds new drawings and texts. You may be inspired to write texts or sentences that would go with his images.
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| Martin Guimont, Untitled |
