Spring has been crazy busy for me this year, compared to the last few years. Exhibition, large commission, filming for our documentary, moving to a new place…
Since announcing the pop-up exhibition is the last update I left, I would like to briefly talk about how it went. Our exhibition space was in the Mile End of Montreal in a commercial building full of other artist studios. The calibre of the work in the exhibition was nice; I hadn’t seen the work before hand, and one of the concerns you have as an emerging artist is, “What am I really getting into?” We had a steady turn-out throughout the evening; there was always a large group of people in the room. I had a couple favourite pieces and met some cool artists. Thank you to Shayna Carol for organizing and curating the exhibition – have a look at her site, she’s a Montreal-based artist too.
My favourite part of the evening was listening to interpretations of my work – what people saw in their mind, what they felt, what it reminded them of. It was interesting to see how differently each viewer sees a painting. For some, my cityscape of Montreal is just an obvious cityscape, yet others read into the subtleties in the clouds, the angle from which the image is seen, the light, the intensity. It was as if they experienced exactly what I experienced in creating the painting quite literally stepping into my shoes and mind. This was also the first ‘real’ exhibition my Wool Self-Portrait had been in, and it was very well received for something I considered just an experiment. I learned that it is worth perusing a similar technique further for future pieces because I had created something unique.
It was quite exciting and it is really what makes me want to keep creating art: watching someone’s spellbound eyes searching the whole image, seeking the right words to describe what they think and feel. I’m not in it for the compliments or hearing that someone likes my art. Aside to having someone put down their hard-earned money to own your art, watching someone be moved by your work is what’s special. What’s unfortunate is people often feel they shouldn’t say anything, not expressing what they think in case it’s not what the artist intended as if it is offensive to have a different experience. Sure, I have my own idea of what the art is, but in my case — I don’t really intend anything. It’s up to viewer, whatever their reaction.
Which brings me to my next update : I have kept quiet about it till I was absolutely sure it would happen — my art and an in-depth interview with me has been published in the latest issue of Emboss Magazine, an independent art publication. The magazine is divided into 3 issues, so you can purchase either just the issue you’re interested in or the whole installment with the option of a digital or physical copy, or both. I am in Issue 2. There’s so much nice artwork! I think of it is as an interesting, immersive read meanwhile an affordable way to own prints of artwork for a fraction of the price and wall space.
As it’s important to my “brand”, I am always questioning what I stand for as an artist – why do I make art and why the type of art that I choose to make? Let me say: Seeing my thoughts in print really solidified and eliminated any doubts.
I’ve also added some of the featured artwork into my store, as I didn’t have the original or prints up. Check it out below.
Featured in “Emboss Magazine – Vibrance Issue 2”.