Wendy-Alexina Vancol
3rd Year, Major in Studio Arts

Daily Butterfly Commute
10″ x 20″
Water and coloured pencils on cold press paper
2019

Artist Statement:

Like many, I depend heavily on public transportation to get around. Since my school and job are far from where I live, I have accumulated quite the mileage over the years and have often been asked, “Why don’t you just avoid all the trouble and get a car already?” The thought of driving has crossed my mind more than once. In fact, the ability to drive would cut my traveling time in half and would allow me to avoid the harsh Montreal climate. However, my reasons for choosing not to drive go beyond my laziness to complete my driver’s permit and my lack of a car. Somehow all of those hours spent travelling in the bus have made me develop this odd fondness for the interactions which come with travelling alongside strangers. Whether it is helping an elder with their grocery bags or giving directions to a stranger, I have come to appreciate those little interactions as they brighten up any gloomy or uneventful day. Daily Butterfly Commute is a three-page comic strip about the sometimes-brief encounters we have while taking public transportation and the non-verbal modes of communication which can also occur during these happenstances. The title of this piece is inspired by the butterfly effect phenomenon, which is based on the idea that even something small is powerful enough to make big changes.

In the case of my comic, the man is a representation of the butterfly who flies out of the woman’s life as fast as he came in. The brief encounter between the two alters the woman’s mood; thus, unknowingly reviving her longing for more interactions. Throughout the years I have drawn many comics that have featured a variety of fictional characters and stories. Although I am the sole author and artist of those stories, I have always had a hard time situating myself as the protagonist, as I never considered my unvarying life to being exhilarating enough to base an entire story on. When drawing, in order to help my mind form a realistic image for the situations in which I imagine my characters in, I tend to physically enact the scenes. To my surprise, me doing so has resulted in my family and peers seeing my characters I drew as being a spitting image of myself and not being able to separate the two. Although that was not a part of the initial process, I will admit that the process of making comics has been a guide for me to dig into my inner psyche. The work has actually given value to all the experiences I live through as they are what formed me into the person I am today.

Sonya Kertész
Cinquième Année, Majeure en Peinture et Dessin

Sea Shepherd & Fish Woman
Chaque 36″ x 48″
Huile sur toile
2016

Artist Statement:

Étant plongeur depuis plus de 25 années je me suis inspirée de mes idées que m’apportent mes plongées pour produire ce diptyque. Dans ce travail artistique je tente judicieusement de recréer pour le spectateur une atmosphère propice à la détente ou à l’inverse créer un moment inconfortable et dramatique. Je cherche à faire vivre une expérience d’immersion unique à l’observateur en le projetant dans un univers qui est difficile d’atteindre tel que le monde sousmarin. C’est donc dans le cadre du cours de painting 200, à partir de modèles vivants, j’ai créé un diptyque masculin et féminin. J’ai reproduit en classe les corps nus des modèles pour ensuite faire appel à ma créativité en modifiant leurs têtes. Mon intention était de représenter une transformation et/ou une mutation des êtres vivants pour nous rappeler cette ère dans laquelle nous vivons qu’on appelle Anthropocène.

Dans ma façon de procéder, je débute par un lavis en utilisant beaucoup de solvant. Les toiles sont toujours réalisées par l’accumulation de plusieurs couches subséquentes de peinture en prenant le soin de laisser sécher entre les couches. Enfin, les diverses couleurs fabriquées à l’aide de plusieurs tonalités et appliquées avec des pinceaux de différentes tailles ont pour but de rechercher des combinaisons de couleurs dichromatiques.

Une des scènes du diptyque représente Sea Shepherd; l’homme à la tête d’un scaphandrier doté d’un corps fort musclé assis calmement au fond des mers et qui pose un regard veillant et inquiet sur une femme à la tête d’un poisson (2e scène). Fish Woman, à la chair bleutée tel une carcasse affaiblie est allongée avec un regard mélancolique, dans lequel son état de mutation semble souffrant et agonisant. L’accent et les détails des tableaux sont portés sur les mains des deux personnages pour évoquer les liens qui nous unissent entre les hommes et les femmes. Les couleurs des arrière-plans sont claires et lumineuses afin de susciter l’espoir. Dans mes œuvres je cherche à représenter la beauté de l’univers marin mais qui parfois amène aussi un côté beaucoup plus sombre. Depuis les dernières années lors de plongées, j’assiste à un spectacle d’innombrables déchets tels que les bouteilles de plastique, des sacs, des détritus de toutes sortes. Ces observations me bouleversent et m’amènent sur la question de l’Anthropocène; celle où les activités humaines ont eu un impact global significatif sur l’écosystème. C’est d’ailleurs pourquoi l’intention de mes œuvres est de présenter ce qui est plein d’attirance ou de répulsion, dramatique et/ou grotesque, vivant ou sans vie, rare ou multiple. Ces différentes dualités exprimées dans mon travail cherchent notamment à attirer et repousser le spectateur. Finalement, l’un des objectifs principaux réside dans la sensibilisation et la conscientisation de la population à la fragilité et la survie de nos océans.

Sarah Pearson
3rd Year, Major in Art Education & Minor in Psychology

Growing Pains
40″ x 55″
Embroidered Textile
2019

Artist Statement:

I believe that creating and sharing art is a very intimate practice, which is the reason why the majority of my artwork draws from my personal narratives and experiences. I aim to make art that is expressive and evocative, exemplifying various emotional states and the self-awareness which exists alongside. This is in hopes that the viewer feels immersed in or connected to my artwork in a personal way. I value colour and the power it has in setting the tone of an artwork as well as directing the viewer. This is something that guides my process; therefore, colour is an integral element of my art practice and the colour palette of this work was an essential component in creating a warm and inviting artwork that greets the viewer. I view the definition of growth to be synonymous with aspects of community. Similarly, the visual of plants and flowers growing has remained in the back of my mind since the beginning of my journey in community art education; a visual metaphor for the significant life experience of learning how to teach and facilitate the learning and making process for others. Being so privileged as to work with such a broad range of populations throughout my professional experiences and within my teaching placements, has taught me about the fragility of older learners as well as young children and youth who are very impressionable at that age. Teaching experiences with these populations have shed light on the amount of vulnerability it can take to create, share, and engage with art. These thoughts surrounding growth and vulnerability are the reasons behind my choice to work with such an intricate fibres technique, embroidery.

Ideas of delicacy and fragility bring a whole other dimension to the narrative of growth. Elaborating on the notion and representation of natural objects, I felt it important to capture organicity as well as elements of degradation. I included elements of degradation in this piece as reference to hindrances I have experienced both as an artist and an educator, and how I have grown and transformed my perspective when looking back at those experiences. These elements in this artwork are equally indicative to any obstacles learners of mine have had to overcome and how they’ve done so through artmaking and learning processes. Growth, learning, and art making are profoundly intertwined in the field of art education and within my own thinking. After all, growth is not linear, and neither is learning; they are natural processes which take place over time and require much hard work and reflection. For this reason, this visual metaphor is something I plan on expanding on in my future artistic practice as well as bringing similar concepts forward in the lessons I will develop. This is in hopes of opening up the conversation surrounding the importance and authenticity of growth in community.

Rosi Maria Di Meglio
4th Year, Double Major – Art Education, Painting and Drawing

Porte D’Ischia I
16″ x 20″
Oil on wood
2017

Porte D’Ischia II
8″ x 10″
Oil on linen
2019

Artist Statement:

This series started as a research project, delving into my identity as an artist born from immigrant parents. I have never really felt I had a clear hold on my identity; digging deep and questioning why has become a clear goal of mine; wishing to uncover the roots of my identity. I began this research project by revisiting my past: my childhood, my adolescence, and my past marriage. I revisited these elements through memories and photographs.

This research deepened when I visited my parents’ hometown in Ischia, Italy, for the first time in 2016. I felt that I needed to discover this heritage of mine, my parents’ way of life in their hometown, to fully discover and see my own identity. I met my aunts, uncles, and cousins who I never knew I had. I was able to piece together and ultimately better understand my heritage and myself. I was able to recognize my parents’ way of life back in their own hometown and understand the differences between Canadian and European cultures.

These two paintings are part of a larger ongoing series exploring space and identity. Both paintings are reflections from my visit to Italy in 2016, depicting my experience at the Porte of Ischia, where locals still purchase fresh fish from the fishermen as they have done for centuries, and where I shared many memorable moments with my Aunt Fiorina.

My work begins through the lens of a camera; I believe it is important that my work derives from original photographs and memories. I then deconstruct and transform the photos I take and memories from that moment into an abstract painting filled with expression and movement. I use intuition to decide on colour, composition, and a layering process; these elements are made to grab the viewer into the canvas and transport the viewer. While articulating the thought process as it pertains to certain colours I used in my paintings is difficult, I can identify that my colour choices respond to memories of the naive girl I once was, with my use of pink and red tones; and in the green painting, with earth tones reflecting my healing process. The translucent appearance develops from layering thin layers of paint. The layers reveal shapes and forms that fascinate me because they are not part of the original composition. These shapes and forms rise to the surface and speak of uncertainty and wonder. The push-and-pull of the canvas between the foreground and the background is intriguing because it leaves me with a sense of space between these two grounds and the multiple layers that exist in between.

I chose to place these two paintings side by side because together they speak of a time of discovery and transformation for myself: an enlightening about my identity. They are inspiring and take me to a place where I feel safe and free. Together these works represent the transformative experiences I lived through, to become the woman I am today.

Rachel Mudrosky 
4th Year, Major in Studio Arts

Untitled
48″ x 60″
Oil on canvas
2020

Artist Statement:

As a fourth-year student majoring in studio arts, I focus on figuration and abstraction in my body of work. Currently exploring performative and experimental modes of expression, my interest in work which emphasizes the materiality of an image-making process is piqued; treatment of medium and surface holds a strong significance and creates moments of tension as well as elation. I see my artmaking process as a tactile endeavor. I seek to interact with the senses, ultimately creating an image which is both visceral and sincere.

Untitled was made this year, as I am currently taking a course in abstract painting – an area of interest and uncertainty for me. Painting is a fluid and expressive process which I enjoy very much, while still feeling challenged by it to a point of deep discomfort. Regardless of how much I paint, the doubt and hesitation that might come with a first painting still lingers. Untitled represents the beginning of a turning point: The moment where this uncertainty transforms into an experimental exploration, the start of an untroubled mode of expression which focuses on process and play. Often looking at change in my greater body of work, I underline the unfixed nature of bodies and states over time through fragmentation, incompleteness, and selective rendering. This is most explicit in other works of mine which are created through the medium of drawing. Exploring this approach through abstract painting has challenged me to expand my perspectives surrounding treatment of medium and surface as I paint.

The notion of transformation is embodied through the fluid movement of forms in this painting; each one interacting with the other, reshaping with every contact. Through gestural brushwork, I seek to create a space that is both tangible and beyond reach, inviting and grim. Light pierces through darker layers, transfiguring the surface and one’s encounter with it. Striving to create images that are detailed and imprecise all at once, this inclination towards the cryptic and personal often results in work which emanates a sense of melancholia. I rely on intuitive expression as a means of creating in a genuine way, and to allow visual imagery of an otherwise inaccessible place to emerge authentically.

Marika Madimenos
3rd Year, Major in Studio Art and Art History

Explanations #5
Four panels, each 30″ x 30″
Total, 60″ x 60″
Acrylic on canvas
2019

Artist Statement:

This project began with a realization: I found that I was evolving in a different way compared to everyone around me. I think outside the box to solve the simplest situations, such as creating the most detailed project at school that does not even count towards a grade. I have been told that I am too negative when I prepare for any and every bad outcome. However, I see this preparation as a way to ensure that only a good outcome will occur. These comments feel similar to hearing a language that sounds familiar; you think you can speak it, but no one is actually able to hear or understand you. The central idea of Explanations #5 was to create a work which showcases a visual, abstract representation of my thought process. This work consists of four panels, each 30” by 30” and was completed in December 2019 using acrylic paints on canvas. Explanations #5 is only one part of a larger series which displays ideas and themes that everyone encounters daily: our passions, our relationship towards music, religion, sexuality, and more. No one will fully understand the inner workings of another’s mind, but this painting is meant to allow the artist and the viewers to recognize the bigger ideas which transform and shape each of us throughout the duration of our lives.

This particular work in the series represents the passion one finds through one’s life. This is why I consider it to be the most elaborate piece in the series. Details among these panels were chosen uniquely and represent my perception and views on subjects similar to what I have listed above. This series is more personal because of my choice to use pointillism throughout each panel. The seemingly endless number of little dots which make this work helps create a clearer picture. While I might find things complicated and unbearable in my own head, the thoughts as depicted with paint are never muddy. Through my choice of patterns and designs, I created an overwhelming mechanical feeling within the paintings to express that our minds and our thoughts are transforming and evolving constantly; a clear evolution hence the presence of confidently dotted colours which bear complexity, nonetheless.

There should be no shame in someone taking extra time to understand where another’s views derive from. It is very possible that this series and approach to painting will continue in my future work. I have always believed that our minds, just as our ideas and potential, are limitless; in a constant transformative state, and so this series will be as well.