Lost and Found
The temporary public art exhibition Lost and Found — is an open conversation, a community experiment, and a critical reflection through varied points of view and practices.
Lost and Found includes the work of artists David Brooks, Nathan Eugene Carson, Hamilton Perambulatory Unit (Taien Ng-Chan + Donna Akrey), Alicia Hunt and Katie Huckson, Jessica A. Rodríguez, Kimber Sider with Dustin Seabrook, Stephanie Springgay (WalkingLab), stylo starr, TH&B (the creative partnership of Simon Frank, Dave Hind, Ivan Jurakic, and Tor Lukasik-Foss), Maria Legault, and Ness Lee, whose artwork is co-curated with Lesley Loksi Chan and in partnership with Centre [3] for Artistic + Social Practice. We are pleased to be hosting the exhibition-installation Fun House #2 curated by Nathan Eugene Carson and including artists Paul Allard, Gord Bond, Julie Jenkinson, Christopher Hall, Laine Groeneweg, Kyle Stewart, and Sandee Ewasiuk.
The material execution of these artworks realized in public space take varied forms including digital film and video, gatherings and performance, sonic works, mixed media installations and billboards. The accounts, narratives, and testimonies expressed through the artworks reference: community and everyday collaborations; relations to place; spaces of hospitality and welcome; service to others; acts of nourishment; re-imaging accountability and responsibilities to each other and the other-than-human; and the nature of meaningful apologies and approaches to forgiveness.
My appreciation to the artists for sharing these narratives and trusting us with their art; to Jessica A. Rodríguez for technical direction, and the members of the Advisory Committee: Melissa Bennett, Alex Jacobs-Blum, Naomi Johnson, Lesley Loksi Chan, and Shirley Madill for their wise advice and generosity; and the Supercrawl team for their support of the public art program and commitment to the event.
– Kristine Germann, Curator, Visual and Public Art, Supercrawl
Programming supported by RSK Collision
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INSTALLATIONS
Gap Ecology (Still Lives with Cherry Pickers and Palms), 2009-2023, Installation: Telescopic boom lifts and majesty palms, weather, Photo Credit: David Brooks
David Brooks
Gap Ecology (Still Lives with Cherry Pickers and Palms), 2009-2023, Boom lifts and majestic palms, weather
Artist’s Statement: In the Amazonian rainforest, the rainy season storms often result in the natural felling of old growth trees. When one of these towering giants topple, it can take a handful of neighboring trees with it, ripping a hole in the forest canopy and forming a “light gap”. This gap in the canopy is quickly colonized by opportunistic species that capitalize on such improvisational events. Taking advantage of their brief exposure to light, these pioneering species begin fruiting and flowering at accelerated speeds, attracting bands of animal life to their momentary bursts of growth – a veritable bacchanalia. This sculptural intervention makes an analogy between a phenomenon common in rainforest ecology with that of Hamilton’s urban fabric. Paralleling the rainforest cycle, each “cherry picker” is filled to the brim with palm trees – enacting their own bacchanalia above the streets of Hamilton. Gap Ecology acts as a beacon to passersby of the ongoing changes and evolution in their built and natural environment.
About the Artist: David Brooks is a New York-based artist whose work considers the relationship between the individual and the built and natural environment. His work investigates how cultural concerns cannot be divorced from the natural world, while also questioning the terms under which nature is perceived and utilized. Brooks has exhibited internationally, including exhibitions and commissions at Storm King; Tang Museum; MoMA/PS1, NYC; Nouveau Musée National de Monaco; Sculpture Center, NYC; deCordova Museum; the Art Production Fund in Times Square; the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum; the Galerie für Landschaftskunst, Hamburg; Cass Sculpture Foundation, UK; American Academy in Rome; and the Trust for Governors Island, NYC; among others. He a professor at NYU, is a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellow, and a winner of the Rome Prize. davidbrooksstudio.com
Supported by Demik Construction, Stevenson’s Rental Services, and Slaapendel Greenhouses
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Nathan Eugene Carson, The Conversation, 2023, painting, Photo Credit: Jonathan Groeneweg
Nathan Eugene Carson
The Conversation, 2023, painting
Artist Statement: My artistic practice is focus on creating individual and bodies of work that inspire, inform, and invigorate both the viewer and myself to meditate on the beauty existing in the world. My process focuses on the reclamation of discarded materials such as paper, cardboard, and paint, and non-traditional materials such as gift cards, plastics, take-out food containers etc. Reclaiming, repurposing and repairing are important parts of my practice ensuring that the artwork created is truly “Something out of nothing” giving materials a new sense of purpose and new life in the form of artworks. The subject matter within my art varies with thematic seasons of creation, however the focus on these reclaimed materials remains consistent throughout. Every finished work of art conveys that a life or soul has been breathed into it, magically reincarnated, and then the work is complete.
About the Artist: Nathan Eugene Carson (b. 1980, lives and works in Hamilton, Ontario) received a BFA from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 2005. His drawings and paintings have since been shown at Verso Gallery, Lennox Contemporary, Gallery One, and the Drake Hotel in Toronto. Carson’s work was also featured during the AGO First Thursdays in partnership with the RBC Emerging Artists Projects and StreetARToronto. In 2016, he was part of an exhibition titled Ponto , the first of several held at Oswald Gallery, in Hamilton , other group exhibitions include Free Fall (2016) and Worked Over (2017), both at Oswald Gallery, and 100 Paintings (2019) at The Carnegie Gallery, Dundas, Ontario, Cut From The Same Cloth (2021) at the Power Plant Toronto, Ontario. His most recent solo exhibition Black Carnival (2022-23) and artist residency took place at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. nathaneugenecarson.ca
Supported by McMaster Museum of Art and McMaster University
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Hamilton Perambulatory Unit (Taien Ng-Chan + Donna Akrey), SUPERWALK, 2023, digital media, Image Credit: Hamilton Perambulatory Unit (Taien Ng-Chan + Donna Akrey)
Hamilton Perambulatory Unit (Taien Ng-Chan + Donna Akrey)
SUPERWALK, 2023, digital media
Artist Statement: Moving creatively through space has always been a focus of the Hamilton Perambulatory Unit. This short video explores the movement of perambulating (here, through the urban environments of Hamilton and surrounding areas) through the kaleidoscopic play of imagery and sound. Special thanks to McMaster students from ART 1TI3: Making Art & Understanding Technologies & Images 2023 who have contributed their walking feet to the mix.
About the Artists: The Hamilton Perambulatory Unit (Donna Akrey + Taien Ng-Chan) explores walking, mapping and media-making through participatory workshops and events. We have given walks in Montreal, Toronto, Windsor, Buffalo New O, Sydney, Australia, London, England, Galway Ireland, Memphis TN, Tokyo Japan, the online sphere of Zoom, and our home base of Hamilton Ontario. hamiltonperambulatoryunit.org
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Alicia Hunt and Katie Huckson, Walking Together, Apart, 2021, digital media, Image Credit (film still): Alicia Hunt and Katie Huckson
Alicia Hunt and Katie Huckson
Walking Together, Apart, 2022, digital media
Artists’ Statement: Walking Together, Apart is a collaborative project by Alicia Hunt and Katie Huckson, funded by the Canada Council for the Arts. Developed from 2020-2021, our project explored the heightened significance of daily walks during the pandemic. With Alicia based primarily in Halifax and Katie in Algoma Ontario, we performed semi-structured, ritual walks, daily over six weeks, virtually sharing our observations and media recordings. Grounded in attentiveness to our immediate surroundings, we observed and documented sensory experiences, objects of interest, and unfamiliar elements. As restrictions and seasons changed, our relationship with the ritual shifted. We found ourselves skipping walks or deviating from the parameters we set at the project start. In winter, we reviewed and experimented with the materials we had collected on our walks, while talking and reflecting on our experiences during reopenings and lockdowns. Walking Together, Apart captures our journey of isolation, exploration, and reconnection.
About the Artists: Katie Huckson is an interdisciplinary artist born and still living in Bawating (Sault Ste. Marie). Huckson graduated with a BFA from Algoma University in 2013 and an MFA from the University of Windsor in 2017. She has exhibited across Canada and abroad and has participated in residencies in Colorado, Italy, Greece, and Vietnam. Her video, Normal Disorders, won Best Picture at the Lights, Camera, Take Action Film Festival at the University of Colorado in 2018. In 2019, she performed an artwork for Occupy The Kitchen Vol.2 in Varese, Italy, supported by the Ontario Arts Council. Huckson is an instructor in Visual art and Art History at Algoma University, and is a PhD candidate in Communication, New Media, and Cultural Studies at McMaster University. She received a SSHRC Doctoral award for her PhD research in 2023. katiehuckson.com • Alicia Hunt grew up in BC and Northern Ireland, and has always felt at home near large bodies of water. She moved to the Algoma region in 2008 and completed her BFA in studio arts Algoma University. She spent five years instructing art classes at the Art Gallery of Algoma, and continues to prioritize working with children and families in her engagement with community. Alicia holds an MFA from NSCAD University where she was a recipient of SSHRC research funding and a research/ creation placement through the Department of Protected Areas: Environment NS and Wildshore Arts. She currently is the Programming Coordinator at Thinking Rock Community Arts and teaches place-based courses sessionally at NSCAD University. Her work can be seen at aliciahunt.ca
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Ness Lee, for our givings, 2023, Performance painting, Image Credit: Ness Lee
Ness Lee
for our givings, 2023, performance painting
Performance painting Friday September 8 at 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Artist Statement: Ness Lee’s work is an investigation of the human form dealing with notions of intimacy and self-love. Rather than the emphasis on the physical form, the emotional resonance and presence is brought to focus on periods of vulnerability, discomfort and acceptance. In being still with the feelings of what it is to face forgiveness and its intricate relationship felt with time, Ness lee utilizes the public realm of the ever-familiar streets of St James Street to create a mural expressing the delicate internal fabric of an inner world seeking the forgiveness of self.
About the Artist: Ness Lee draws upon the complexities of history and personal narratives to create tender and surreal works that take shape in various mediums and realms of expression. Exploring states of mind during intimate stages of vulnerability, Lee’s work takes form as an effort in seeking comfort, forgiveness and desire for an end of a self-perpetuated state. Based in Toronto, their work has been featured at the AGO, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Art Gallery of Hamilton, as well as galleries in New York, Los Angeles,Taiwan, Montreal and Toronto. Lee has also participated in mural festivals in Canada and Internationally in Hyderabad, India and Cozumel, Mexico. nesslee.com
Curatorial Statement: In for our givings, Ness Lee takes to the streets with her signature fluid black and white lines to embark on a profound exploration of apologies and forgiveness. The artist’s use of bold, contrasting lines serves as a visual representation of the complexities inherent in seeking and granting forgiveness. Through captivating movement of strokes on the pavement, Lee delves into the emotional landscape of apologies, creating a thought-provoking and contemplative experience for us to behold. The painting performance unfolds as a journey of rumination, tracing the various phases that occur during the intricate experience of processing and unfolding/unpacking apologies. Lee’s work becomes a conduit for reflecting on the essence of seeking forgiveness, rummaging through themes of accountability and the transformative power of self-reflection. The act of looking within and facing the mirror of the self becomes a central motif in this performative painting. The circular composition weaves its way across the street, mirroring the cyclical nature of emotions that are entwined with the act of seeking and granting forgiveness. The stretching of the artwork across the street also forms a symbolic bridge that connects two distant spaces. The bridge acts as a metaphor for the potential connection and healing that can occur through apologies — a bridge that unites individuals or communities, and fosters understanding and empathy. Despite the monumental labour, the impermanence of the chalk paint used in the performance stands as a poignant reminder…just like apologies, which may hold great meaning in the moment, time and nature have their way of washing away these gestures unless we continually ponder the significance of compassion, introspection and healing in our own lives.
Co-presented by Centre 3 and Supercrawl
Co-curated by Lesley Loksi Chan and Kristine Germann
Supported by Evans, Philp LLP
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Maria Legault, Apology Project (letter version), 2023, sonic and social practice artwork, Photo Credit: Maria Legault
Maria Legault
Apology Project (letter version), 2023, sonic and social practice artwork
Public apology letter burning ritual Friday September 8 at 10:00 PM, in collaboration with TH&B. Bring your own apology letters to burn!
Artist Statement: Apology Project (letter version) is part of an ongoing artwork by Maria Legault that reflects on the act of apologizing. The artist is interested in the remorse and regret that we carry, and how we can find ways to process them. Her project reflects on how apologies can act as vehicles for healing and repair, and also what happens when apologies are mistuned, misguided or simply miss the mark. This art installation will integrate handwritten apology letters and segments of recorded apologies into Supercrawl’s festival landscape. These letters and audio segments were collected during a workshop lead by the artist that explored the act of apologizing and guided participants to write their own apology letters. Legault’s autofictional practice merges personal and fictitious content as a vehicle for creative expression. She is inspired by the feminist moto the personal is political; and believes that by showcasing her subjectivity she brings forth considerations that can be meaningful to others. The art installation will be presented from the evening of September 8th to September 10th on James Street North in Hamilton as part of SuperCrawl.
Artist Biography: Maria Legault is a francophone multi-disciplinary artist living near Hamilton Ontario. Her art is intimate, auto-fictional, feminist, humorous and very often, pink. She has shown internationally from Serbia to France and the US, in various museums, theatres, festivals and galleries. Noteworthy venues include the Art Gallery of Sudbury, Balkans Biennale, Castle of Imagination, Galerie du Nouvel Ontario, Galerie Sans Nom, Forest City Gallery, Inter-Access, Le Labo, Mercer Union, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain de Strasbourg, Nuit Blanche, Print Studio, Pow-Pow Performance Festival, Reinraum, Rodman Hall, Saw Gallery, Western Front and 7a11d. Legault is obsessed with sugar. She also loves toy frogs. She completed a BFA at Concordia University, an MFA at the University of Guelph, and a PhD at the Université du Québec à Montréal in the study and practice of visual arts. marialegault.com
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Jessica A. Rodríguez, afrontaciones => (f.) copings Narrativas de la Memoria y la Violencia del habitar, 2022-23, digital media, Image Credit: Jessica A. Rodriguez
Jessica A. Rodríguez
[mex/can], afrontaciones => (f.) copings Narrativas de la Memoria y la Violencia del habitar, 2022-23, digital media
Artist Statement: As a person growing up in Uruapan (with still strong familial ties to this city in Mexico), I have noticed how violence (a product of organized crime and the government) becomes embedded into our personas. It affects our everyday activities and determines our identities and memories even beyond the geographical space of the city. This project is a auto-ethnographic artwork and a method for coping with these issues. afrontaciones => (f.) copings is an audio-visual piece revolving around the practice of creating “testimonies” and collective story-sharing through complex layers of inhabiting a city crossed by violence.
About the Artist: Jessica A. Rodríguez is a multimedia artist, designer, researcher, and a doctoral candidate in Communications, New Media, & Cultural Studies at McMaster University. Her practice and research projects focus on audio-visual practices such as visual music, electronic literature, video experimentation, sound art, visualization/sonification, live coding, and collaborating with composers, writers, designers, and other visual artists. She is co-founder of andamio.in, a collaboration platform that uses digital and analogue technologies to explore text, visuals, and audio. She is also part of RGGTRN, a collective that engages in algorithmic dance music and audiovisual improvisation informed by Latinx experiences. She currently holds the Chair position at the Board of Factory Media Centre located in Hamilton, Canada, a not-for-profit artist-driven resource centre dedicated to producing and promoting creatively diverse forms of independent films, videos, and other streaming multimedia art forms. vimeo.com/jessicaarianne
Digital film and video program supported by DPAI Architecture
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Kimber Sider with Dustin Seabrook, Katrina, 2023, digital media, Photo Credit: Dustin Seabrook / STILL CREATES
Kimber Sider with Dustin Seabrook
Katrina, 2023, digital media
Artists’ Statement: Meet Katrina. Katrina is a confident leader, who excels at setting healthy boundaries in her relationships. She is an exceptional communicator, who is never short on opinions. She loves a good snack and a wander, as long as she gets some say in the plans. Also, Katrina is a horse. So often in art, animals—and horses especially—are included as metaphors. Their bodies are used to represent freedom or beauty in a human-centric sense. They are rarely included as unique individuals, empowered with their own agency, interests, and objectives. This metaphorical framing overrides their individual personalities and perspectives, encouraging humans to see each animal as fixed and interchangeable with the next. Katrina (the installation and the individual) invites you to step away from this framing and see her in a personal light. Thanks to Ethel & Peter Dykman, Shelby Duggan, Brandon Spoja, Vincent & Grizzly.
About the Artists: Kimber Sider is a multimodal storyteller, documentary filmmaker, Artistic Director of the Guelph Film Festival—one of the oldest documentary film festivals in the world—and a human/animal eco-scholar specializing in communication, performance, and the ways in which humans engage with and perceive the more-than-human world (plants and animals). Sider is most known for her 2010 feature documentary, Chasing Canada, which follows her journey across Canada with her horse, Katrina. drawdeprod.com • Dustin Seabrook is a multidisciplinary artist working in film and music. Primarily self-taught, Seabrook is acknowledged for his work as a director, cinematographer, editor, producer, and musician. He has produced several music videos, media art, and created a mini docuseries called, Project Isolation. Seabrook’s work has been acknowledged by CBC Music, Indie88, Hillside Music Festival, Guelph Film Festival, WKP Kennedy Gallery, Tom Thomson Art Gallery, KAZOO! He was the 2022 recipient of Ed Video’s Kenny Doren Award. stillcreates.com
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Stephanie Springgay, WalkingLab: Scores for Counter-Mapping, 2023, digital media, Image Credit: Stephanie Springgay, WalkingLab
Stephanie Springgay
WalkingLab: Scores for Counter-Mapping, 2023, digital media
Artist Statement: WalkingLab: Scores for Counter-Mapping is a 2-channel video projection that invites Supercrawl participants to enact their own walking scores. Scores are open-ended instructions or propositions that ignite the potential for future action. As invitations to activate and imagine different futures, scores are iterative, but while repeatable, are not concerned with predictable outcomes. Scores are highly improvised and open, with many possible realizations of a given work. The side projections record a walking body moving through an 8-block radius around James St. North. The walk attunes to the pace and movement of a body, and the sounds of walking sticks and an urban soundscape. The rear projection offers scores to participants to take up and enact as they walk on their own or in a group. WalkingLab invites you to take a walk and use the score(s) to guide your walk. You can find galleries of international walks informed by scores at walkinglab.org
About the Artist: Stephanie Springgay is Director of the School of the Arts and Professor at McMaster University. Her artistic research interests include walking as place-making and as a form of live public performance art. She directs WalkingLab (walkinglab.org) an international network of artists and scholars committed to critical approaches to walking methods. She is a leading scholar of research-creation with a focus on walking, affect, queer theory, and contemporary art as pedagogy. She directs the SSHRC-funded research-creation project The Pedagogical Impulse which explores the intersections between contemporary art and pedagogy. She directs WalkingLab –She has published widely on contemporary art, curriculum studies, and qualitative research methodologies. stephaniespringgay.com
Video Credits: Videographer and Editor, Mishann Lau
This work is funded through Supercrawl and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
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stylo starr, Reckoning, 2023, digital collage, Image Credit: stylo starr
stylo starr
Reckoning, 2023, digital collage
Artist Statement: I create intuitively, and I believe there is a visual alchemy that happens in the process of cut and paste. I am energized by the tactility of old books, magazines, scrap paper or other found materials, and I appreciate collage for its accessibility. Working digitally unlocks a whole other way of approaching collage that further motivates me to stretch my imagination as I muse on possible futures. The focus of my work is the elevation of Black people and asserting our existence in fantasy and the future. I remove all spatial and temporal references. Challenges of limited representation are often encountered while sourcing material – not to mention the potential of engaging with historically harmful sources. These challenges are often met through experimentation with photography and digital collage as a solution. In either practice, the subject ultimately is re-contextualized and appointed the power of the gaze. The subject is Divine.
About the Artist: stylo starr is a collage artist whose work centres nature, fantasy and the Afrofuture. Her work is driven by the observation and integration of fine layered detail in a collaboration with her deep amateur interests in astrology, crystals, herbalism, lepidopterology and the metaphysical – all of which are frequently explored in her collages. stylo’s art reflects beauty and power, and she believes prominent and positive representation of Blackness in the arts is critical and necessary. stylo has exhibited at the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the Art Gallery of Burlington among others and is an emerging curator and arts educator. She also facilitates creative mindfulness workshops open to a variety of age groups and experiences both in-person and online. stylo is based in her hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, situated upon the traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississauga’s, where she works and lives with her feline companion, Samo.
Supported by McMaster Museum of Art and McMaster University
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TH&B: Panacea, 2023, performance and social action cookout, Photo Credit: Liss Platt
TH&B
Panacea, 2023, performance and social action
Performance Fri Sept 8, 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Artist’s Statement: In 2022, TH&B worked with Great Lakes Foundry to transform the double-swallowtail crest design of the TH&B railway logo into an over-sized cast-iron fry pan designed to serve as a catalyst for communal gatherings. TH&B: Panacea, a ritual designed specifically for Supercrawl 2023, will use the pan and a specially designed cooking fire to make and share small handcakes, each delivered with a condiment reflecting the complexity of the Great Lakes region—a pesto made from edible invasive species, or a jam made from urban berries, for example. A panacea is defined as a remedy for all difficulties and diseases. And while we cannot make any promises, believe that the spirit of this communal gesture will encourage people to consider food as a form of reciprocity, and cooking for others as a kindness that can help heal us both physically and psychologically. Thank you to Nellie James, Chef Ken LeFebour and Jacqui Wakabayashi.
About the Artists: TH&B is the creative partnership of Simon Frank, Dave Hind, Ivan Jurakic, and Tor Lukasik-Foss, recycling the moniker of the defunct railway which once serviced the Toronto, Hamilton, and Buffalo rail corridor. The team is a collaborative authorship that produces sculptures, installations, and interventions that respond to and often trespass upon the awkward transitional zones in between rural, urban, and post-industrial environments. TH&B’s projects include public art for Hamilton’s redesigned Pier 8 and McMaster Museum of Art and have developed site-specific installations and projects for the Art Gallery of Hamilton, Art Spin (Hamilton + Toronto), Carleton University Art Gallery (Ottawa), Art Gallery of Windsor, Beyond/In Western New York (Buffalo), Supercrawl, and Gladstone Hotel (Toronto) among others.
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EXHIBITION-INSTALLATION
Fun House #2
Curated by Nathan Eugene Carson
As a child, outdoor carnivals always attracted me. I walked around with a sense of wonder… the intersection of the many different moving parts… the games, the rides, the food and drinks, and the myriad of performances that were taking place, often in the parking lot of a mall or fairground. Fun House #2 is inspired by the carnival model with the added artistic twist for Supercrawl. An intimate tented carnival space will showcase artworks from local artists including Paul Allard, Gord Bond, Julie Jenkinson, Christopher Hall, Laine Groeneweg, Kyle Stewart, and Sandee Ewasiuk. The space will be animated by performances, an outdoor flea market, with more surprises over the weekend. Welcome to the Funhouse. Where the magic happens. Thank you to Motts Borsellino and Stephen McIntyre, Robyn Snow and Casa Studio. – Nathan Eugene Carson
Exhibition supported by Feltmate Delibato Heagle
Fun House #2 Artists
Paul Allard, Polite Society, 2022, mixed media, Image Credit: Paul Allard
Paul Allard
A new artwork to be titled, 2023, mixed media
About the Artist: Paul Allard makes paintings, oftentimes with words on them.
Gord Bond, I’m not sure legs are supposed to bend that way, 2022, oil on canvas, Image Credit: Gord Bond
Gord Bond
A new artwork to be titled, 2023, mixed media
About the Artist: Gord Bond grounds his artistic practice in his love of painting. Despite the outwardly figurative and representational appearance of his works, Bond considers his practice as predominantly abstract. Through a responsive approach, the forms in Bond’s works become the product of compositional decisions made intuitively throughout the painting process while their surfaces reflect his dedication to create interesting textures and play with colour. Through intentional playfulness and humour, Bond wishes to create animated paintings that connect with a wide breadth of viewers. Bond holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from McMaster University, Hamilton, and a Masters of Fine Art from York
University, Toronto. His work is found in the public collection of McMaster University and private collections across Canada and internationally in the United States and United Kingdom.
Sandee Ewasiuk, Masquerade Paintings, 2022, mixed media on canvas, Image Credit: Sandee Ewasiuk
Sandee Ewasiuk
Carnival Road Trip with Friends, 2023, mixed media on canvas
About the Artist: Sandee Ewasiuk is a graduate from the Ontario College of Art and Design where she specialized in editorial illustration. She has also taken many courses in art history at McMaster University. Sandee has been exhibiting her work for over 30 years with paintings that exist in collections worldwide. She is also an art instructor who has taught in many institutions including Dundas Valley School of Art, Art Gallery of Burlington and Fleming College/Haliburton School of Art and Design. Sandee describes her paintings as “Capturing a moment in life, an emotion or a thought… using a gesture, or an expression along with colour, light, texture and brushstroke to paint a story”. Something wacky: Painting life with a big twist! In most cases a really big twist.
Laine Groeneweg, Popcorn, silkscreen on folded Japanese mulberry paper | spray foam Image Credit: Laine Groeneweg
Laine Groeneweg
Popcorn, 2023, silkscreen on folded Japanese mulberry paper / spray foam
“Popcorn” is an homage to the carnival. In this piece, Laine twists nostalgia and breaks the scale with his theatrical interpretation of the quintessential circus snack. Step right up to enjoy a spectacle your senses won’t soon forget!
About the Artist: Laine Groeneweg is a Hamilton-based artist and collaborator. After receiving his BFA from York University he went on to train at Fondazione Il Bisonte Per Lo Studio Dell’Arte Grafica in Florence, Italy. In 2013 he founded Smokestack where he continues to develop a reputation for his energetic and audacious printmaking practice. He approaches the printmaking medium as a means of both production and inspiration while embracing the possibilities only handmade techniques can offer. His prints are as stylistically and conceptually diverse as the medium itself. Laine’s work has been exhibited Nationally and Internationally across North America, Europe, and Asia and are held in a
number of public and private collections. lainegroeneweg.com
Christopher Hall, I ain’t Lion, 2022, mixed media, Photo Credit: Christopher Hall
Christopher Hall
I ain’t Lion, 2022, mixed media
Curated pop culture represented through traditional realism layered with fractured and stylized idioms.
About the Artist: With a 23-year background in tattooing and graphic design, “Professor” Christopher Hall has developed a purposeful style and a keen eye for color composition that he expresses in his acrylic painting practice. Drawing heavily on a deep culture of tattooing symbolism, Hall translates a mixture of these images into fresh contemporary works of bright, eye-catching palettes and design. Utilizing digital software tools to complete the majority of the preliminary work allows him to responsively manipulate the composition and palettes before painting them onto canvas. His Loft series, exploring the juxtaposition of birds with Art Deco and Art Nouveau inspired backgrounds, exemplifies his technique. The play of realism over intrusive pop art in these works resolve into elegant and engaging images. Christopher Hall holds a diploma in Graphic Design from Canadore College, ON. His works are held in private collections in Canada and the United States. professorchrishall.com
Julie Jenkinson, Something That Roars, 2023, acrylic on paper, Image Credit: Julie Jenkinson
Julie Jenkinson
Something That Roars / I Skipped Kindergarten, both artworks 2023, acrylic on paper
The process of pouring and dripping paint is purely physical, like a dance or an “act”. In this new abstract portrait series “I Skipped Kindergarten” the anthropomorphic characters slowly expose themselves as the layers of paint are applied. There’s a fine balance of revealing and concealing them. Hair, as an expression of identity and “costuming,” plays a prominent role in my work. In this series for the exhibition Fun House #2, the hair veils the razzmatazz and emotional complexity of the relationship between the “spectator” and the circus performers and is imbued in the subjects portrayed.
About the Artist: Julie Jenkinson is a British-born, self-taught multidisciplinary artist and designer living in Toronto. Julie has exhibited internationally in group and solo exhibitions. In 2018 she held her first solo sculpture exhibition Continued Existence in Toronto at VERSO Gallery @Inabstracto. Her work is included in public, corporate and private collections and commissions including: Douglas Coupland, Cutler and Gross, Mr. Pink Art Consultants, Netflix, The Gladstone Hotel, Taylor Hazell Architects, RH Gallery, TAP Art Projects, Yabu Pushelberg. BLACKBONES is her collection of sculptural jewelry for all sexes. juliejenkinson.com
Kyle Stewart, Big Top, 2022, Found object, wood, spray paint, house paint, Image Credit: Kyle Stewart
Kyle Stewart
Big Top, 2022, Found object, wood, spray paint, house paint
About the Artist: Kyle Stewart is a visual artist from Hamilton, Ontario. He graduated from OCAD University with a Bachelor of Design in Illustration where he was the recipient of the Nora E Vaughn Award and Program Medal. His artistic approach allows him to toe a line between high and low brow that resonates with a collective nostalgia. Heavily influenced by history, popular culture, nature, and more, he works in mixed media that vary from small collages to installations to wall murals. His work is very energetic and therefore spontaneous and at times chaotic. Kyle’s art practice has a strong emphasis on exploration and experimentation where the process in the studio can be just as important as the finished work.
About the Curator
Nathan Eugene Carson (b. 1980, lives and works in Hamilton, Ontario) received a BFA from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 2005. His drawings and paintings have since been shown at Verso Gallery, Lennox Contemporary, Gallery One, and the Drake Hotel in Toronto. Carson’s work was also featured during the AGO First Thursdays in partnership with the RBC Emerging Artists Projects and StreetARToronto. In 2016, he was part of an exhibition titled Ponto, the first of several held at Oswald Gallery, in Hamilton , other group exhibitions include Free Fall (2016) and Worked Over (2017), both at Oswald Gallery, and 100 Paintings (2019) at The Carnegie Gallery, Dundas, Ontario, Cut From The
Same Cloth (2021) at the Power Plant Toronto, Ontario . His most recent solo exhibition is an art residency at the Art Gallery of Hamilton titled Black Carnival (2023). nathaneugenecarson.ca
