The Internet has overtaken many of our lives in ways that were impossible to imagine a mere two decades ago. Many of us have some kind of online “presence,” be it through a social media file, or as data recorded through our Google searches. There is so much data out there that we now have …
Art and architecture are repositories of memory, the stories we tell ourselves as a culture. I came across a mention of French art historian Henri Focillon, and the impact of his thinking on art history. Most people may think of art history as a flowing continuity, where one style “progresses” into another. But Focillon envisioned history …
What happens when you fold a circle, over and over? Amazing discoveries about the truths behind the universe, apparently. Author and sculptor Bradford Hansen-Smith of Wholemovement describes what happens when a circle is folded, allowing us to observe the “information stored in the flattened sphere (circle) which becomes uncompressed by moving the circle plane through all …
Created with wet clay spinning round and round on a potter’s wheel, this video is completely mesmerizing. Via This Is Colossal: As a person who’s spent more than a few hours at the seat of a potter’s wheel I can attest to the strangely soothing act of doodling around with wet clay sludge (called slip) before …
Combining jazz and the Chinese zodiac — a novel idea. The Live EP from Montréal-based group Rhythm & Hues — masterminded by musician and composer Parker Mah — does just that. Six tracks are available to listen (and download for free for a limited time) over at Bandcamp. Based on his brief, I worked with Parker …
After an exhausting but satisfying weekend preparing and showing for the annual YES Art Expo, I am recovered enough to post a few thoughts on my experience. There’s always a bit of je ne sais quoi with exhibit-and-sales events like the YES Art Expo — a bit of bustling and hustling, but it was also …
Montréal artist-activist Emily Rose Michaud is launching the second edition of her ‘zine Pouvoir Aux Pousses! / Sprout Out Loud! tomorrow at local comics powerhouse Drawn & Quarterly. Emily established the Roerich Garden* in 2007, as part of the Sprout Out Loud! gardener’s collective. The Roerich Garden is located on a plot of land formerly …
We are our stories, our collective dreamings — nor are we alone, as our modernist, isolationist culture of self-destructive madness would like us to believe. Our imaginings, the thought forms we send out as a species, do matter — on a level that may not be physically perceivable, but it nonetheless exists. Thought is power, …
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. …
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 …
Unseen and microscopic, this part of the fungi organism spreads as a branching network underground, making up what could be the largest organism in the world, according to mycologist Paul Stamets in his book Mycelium Running.
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 …
Another digital collage, part of a page done for a ‘zine I put together for Expozine 2011. You can see the rest of the PDF here.
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 …
Named after my mother-in-law’s initial reaction (“Oh! It’s an anemone!”), this illustration depicts a girl whose dress is indistinct from the body of a jellyfish, while her hair transforms into a school of fish. No, it’s not a mutant — this drawing is inspired by my fascination with patterns and the ever-changing flows that exist …
“Evolution is the manifestation of latent potentials… another way of saying this is that consciousness exists in all forms of life. It is the very basis of creation, the power of evolution. Life, creation and evolution are the stages in the unfoldment of consciousness. There is nothing in existence that is unfeeling, nothing that is profane or unspiritual, nothing without a unique value in the cosmos.”
The hummingbird is seen as a symbol of resurrection, beauty and magic. Set against a mandala or wheel design of bursting colours, a bird-creature dressed in white has her feet immersed in a pool of water (a symbol for the subconscious), while geometric lines of energy seem to emanate from its depths. A drawing with …
Working on a couple of new pieces, here are some photos of the progress.
Visual musings on the mathematical and existential matter of infinity: like love, it’s in the eye of the beholder. Table of diagrams on right from Don Hatch’s amazing website on tessellations and other sundries. Schlafli and Wythoff symbols, enough equations to boondoggle the mind. Wikipedia entry on uniform tilings on the hyperbolic plane: There are …
A tweaked photo-collage created with Photoshop.
At the intersection of Villeneuve and Avenue du Parc stand two carpet stores, facing each other. What happens when the carpets break free?