I just saw Nostalgia for the Light, a brilliant documentary on Chile by Patricio Guzmán. It’s a beautifully told story of this South American country’s tumultuous history — the genocide and exploitation of Chile’s indigenous peoples in its mining industry, the violent coup by military dictator Augusto Pinochet and the subsequent “disappearances” of dissidents and …
One of the first things that struck me about Montréal when I first moved here were the spiral staircases. Winding, weaving, twisting upon themselves, these iron or wood stairways are treacherous in winter and yet add an element of elegance and fantasy to the city’s streets, while allowing for a greater density of residential occupation. …
Here follows Part 2 of a research paper of mine that explores the connections between ecology, culture, science and the collective consciousness. Part 1 can be found here. The Cosmogenic Dream – To Divine Visions – To The Awakened Dreamer Contrary to westernized cultures’ ambiguous approach to dreams, early cultures placed dreams squarely as a …
I’m not totally sure how I stumbled upon John Trudell but I’ve been reading up the last few days on this fiery, eloquent spoken word poet-activist of Santee Sioux descent who cut his teeth back in the 1970s as chairman of the American Indian Movement, among other things. Surveilled by the FBI, he lost his …
The past few years have been a bit of an undocumented period for me. I used to write pretty prolifically on the personal level and now it’s dwindled to not even a trickle, except for the odd journalling jaunt. Recovering the process will probably take some time, but in the meanwhile, I’m going to post …
I’ve been doing a bit of research into thought forms (for fun), and it may sound farfetched, but I think that it’s not unreasonable that our mental projections can and do take on a “life” of their own. Fascinating stuff. From Wikipedia: Tulpa (Wylie: sprul-pa; Sanskrit: निर्मित nirmita[1] and निर्माणnirmāṇa;[2] “to build” or “to construct”) is a concept in mysticism of a being or object which …
Here’s an electronic music set that my husband and I put together for a September party in Montreal, under the banner of Dharmakaya. The track selections were almost split evenly down the middle between me and him, surprisingly, but it took lots of work to whittle it down, and for me to learn the basic …
Literary magazine Niche has published their latest issue online; featuring some lovely creative writing, poetry and art (two of my pieces are included), plus some smart-looking graphic design and photography by Maria Surawska. There’s a PDF download available for a limited time, check it out here.
I’m happy to announce that I’ve been chosen to be a part of YES Montréal’s Art Expo this summer, taking place at the Montréal Science Center, along with fifty-nine other emerging artists, musicians and performers who will be exhibiting and showcasing their work. Admission is free. More info here, check out this video of the …
The end of April has been a crazy time for us — we moved and love our new place, but it was an herculean effort, and we’re still living out of boxes and tripping over things. But I’m happy to report that I’m showing some of my artwork under the banner of “INTERdimensional” at the …
I’ve been itching to learn how to create video content, and not knowing where to start. So I was delighted to find a “Digital Storytelling” workshop offered by Studio XX, Montreal’s “bilingual feminist artist-run centre for technological exploration, creation and critique.” Interestingly, digital storytelling is the modern evolution of traditional oral storytelling, the kind that …
Downtown Montréal gallery & herbal apothecary Fleurbain is showing works by architects-turned-artists from March 3rd until April 17th, 2012. I am honoured to have some of my works shown amongst the other inspiring creations — one of them my latest, Mycelial Kingdom. Prints will be on sale there. Also, there will be informal talks by …
Well, winter’s halfway over. I’ve been working on some new stuff, which I will post on soon. In the meantime, I’m happy to announce that I’ve got some greeting cards and prints (in a snazzy packaging I designed and handmade myself!) on sale at the Concordia Co-op Bookstore, a local “non-profit co-op bookstore that is …
For Expozine 2011, I ventured out into putting together a little ‘zine of my own — and am now making it available for viewing online via Issuu. The title “Know Hope” comes from a particular specimen of spray-painted graffiti that I passed by everyday in Montreal, and it now has become my motto. Cobbling together …
Last month I put up a small exhibit of my artwork at La Co-op Maison Verte, Canada’s first environmental solidarity co-op and an icon in my neighbourhood of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. Thank you all for the positive response! Next up: I will have some pieces included in the “Small Works Exhibition” at Fleurbain, a gallery in downtown …
So I finally took the plunge and opened a shop over at Etsy. If you’re interested, my artwork is now available as prints, posters and cards (singles or packs of 6). As you’ve seen with my architecturally-themed illustrations, my focus is on where “Architecture Meets Art.” I also welcome commissions for fantastical drawings of that …
Working on a couple of new pieces, here are some photos of the progress.
It’s every parent’s nightmare: earlier last week, an 8-year-old boy went missing after taking a wrong turn on his first walk home alone from day camp in a Brooklyn neighborhood. A mere seven blocks, with his mother waiting halfway — but he never made it. A massive two-day search ended in the heart-wrenching and shocking discovery …
With a whizzing sigh the Trees swallow us into The moonless gulf, A Jonah’s whale-mouth. The road twists a sapphire vein. The sea, that irresolute woman, Sighs and sighs again. A thousand faces arrive, and a Thousand leave. We are not islands, upon islands, seekers Upon the sands. Our ocean trajectories, confounded by The …
Braving the notoriously dangerous traffic, this short essay that I wrote back in 2007 is about a spontaneous, (almost) death-defying, 80 kilometer day trip by scooter to Chidambaram, a holy site in southern India. Sun-baked and fleeting, the humid South Indian landscape falls beneath the thrumming wheels of our old scooter. In a roaring blur, …