My Journal

A letter to Hannah Claus,

Some people live life because they have to, you seem to live life because you want to. You have a message and people want to listen. Your work is light and airy with a sense of floating even though the content is heavy and meaningful. That is what art is all about. Listening to you talk about your art and the way in which you refer to them "That's like asking who's your favourite child! Can't answer that one." When asked which art work you like the best, I find to be a very telling trait of who you are as a person and what all of the artwork truly means to you. With your answer I can understand how different all of the works are and how they represent different things that cannot be compared. I took a women's studies course last year and I learned about Mohawk women as well as many different struggles that indigenous women are facing. While reading David Garneau's text I loved the line " Culture is tradition. Art is something else." I think that these two works/texts fit hand in hand as culture is tradition but even though art is representing a culture it can break traditional art stigma. These works do pull in all of the factors of culture as well as they push art boundaries as in art there are no traditions.

-Sept 17

Since this is a personal journey about growth and new findings throughout this year, I though that I would start off this page the same way that I start every day... listening to my favourite song (press play!)

A letter to Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens,

Wow. This is a form of art that I am not very familiar with but I felt so moved and it left me wanting more. As someone who tries to avoid fast fashion I think that it is really important to be accountable for what you are directly supporting. Projects like this, make the viewer think about all of the things that they are directly/indirectly funding such as sweat shops or child labour.

-Sept 24

After listening to Hannah talk about her art I found that she had a strong sense of identity, this inspired me to explore the idea of not knowing yourself and the people around around you

After seeing this work I wanted to explore the idea of reusing, in the same way that people thrift clothes and tailer them to their own style, I want to do the same with an older art work of art.

*DISCLAIMER*
I ended up using this work as my research project. During this process I ended up finding a new sort of style and loving the message that this work is giving.

Everyone Has A Twin, Some Are Lesser Known

This work was also inspired by Katie Bethune- Leamen and the way that she has changed the way that I look at sculpture. Her works are unique and honestly a little weird... and that's why I love it!! Art is meant to be different and push boundaries. A lot of art follows the same trends so when you see one that is different and speaks to you, you remember it. I would love to visit any of her exhibitions in person and have the chance to experience such a fun display in person.

A letter to Katie Bethune- Leamen,

All of the artists that we have seen have been amazing but there was something special about your work that has stuck with me. I can't shake the feeling that I was meant to see your art. It has given me great inspiration and for that I want to say thank you.

-Oct 1

A letter to Germaine Koh:

Your artwork is complex yet simple.
I was blown away by your work but I am most interested in you "knitwork" piece. I LOVE that you are making an ever growing work and I LOVE even more the way that you are physically making this work. Pulling apart thrifted sweaters and taking the yarn and creative a massive garment. This work is older than me... crazy. This work is something that is completely unique to you and I am so glad that it is getting the recognition that it deserves, traveling and being in all of these different shows. Listening to you work was especially captivating as all of you work is very different, not just is style but also in material. As someone who is still in the very beginning of their art career and still trying to find my own path, it is truly inspirational to see someone who has made themselves a career in different types of art. Overall thank you for introducing me to new kinds of art and I will try to follow up on you future exhibitions... and I will defiantly try to see he "knitwork" piece whenever it is in my area.

-Oct 8

A letter to Wayne Dunkley,

When I saw your work I was very fascinated with the ideas motivating you as I share a similar interest in exploring the idea of how people relate to others and their surroundings. This idea that we are all really strangers is theme that keeps occurring in my work, with that said I really liked your work. Watching the way in which you address different social problems is very inspiring. As I have been working on my newest pieces I find my ideas revolving around the word Sonder.

-Oct 15

Thank you Wayne, as I am now looking up to you and your art and the ideas that you are exploring.

A letter to Michèle Pearson Clarke,

Video art is something that I have never tried, but I am always mesmerized by it. Listening to your talk and the way that you are so proud to represent al of the communities that you are apart of is truly truly truly inspirational. You are the kind of people that we need more of out there in the world making art. After your talk I went onto you website and I found one project in particular that I loved. The title is "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" this work is amazing and I love the way that you went about this exhibition, but this work has a little more of a connection to me as I went to high school right near Oshawa and many of my friends parents actually work at the General Motors in Oshawa.I will definitely be checkin in on your website to follow along with your next works.

-Oct 29

As I continue my self exploration to find my own style of art and find the value of what is important to me I find myself vey interested in eyes and the way that we can strip them down to their most basic shape and it is still a recognizable image. In one of my other art classes I am using this idea of deconstruction, to deconstruct the image of an eye and see how far I can break down the colours and the shapes until it is no longer recognizable. This work is the first out of a collection that I want to start where the gradually get more and more abstract and skewed.

A letter to Christina Battle,

Your work is amazing. My favorite work that you have done is the piece "Connecting Through Grasses" this work speaks loudly. What I mean by this is that most people and especially artists can see themselves where this work is leading us. One part of the piece says "Imagine if you are falling. But there is no ground." but my response to that is that. that's life! I feel like no matter how hard we try to manicure and plan our lives there comes a point where we can either stay where we are or make a leap of faith that might honestly lead us to nowhere. As if you are jumping out of a parachute and then the ground is gone. The support that you planned on is gone and now you have to rely on yourself. Your work is moving and the photos are fantastic. As someone who lived in the prairies for a bit (I with I remembered more) I love the nod to the prairies. Overall your work is captivating and I love the sense of connection that I got from exploring your work.

-Nov 19

Thoughts:
Overall I used this class as a reflection of art, artists, and most importantly what kind of artist i want to be. I loved all of the guest speakers and the variety that we had. I think that in some way or another I have been influenced by all of the artists and I look forward to following all of their journeys and seeing how that will influence my own work. Even though we had the added challenge of Covid-19, I think that it was beneficial for this class as we would not have had a chance to hear from all of these wonderful speakers who are currently located across the country. This class has made me excited to explore art!