2013 ad infinitum catalogue

ad infinitum

Fine Arts Graduate Exhibition April 17 - 19, 2013 Kwantlen Polytechnic University Cloverdale Campus Surrey, BC

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The graduates would like to express their deepest appreciation to the Fine Arts faculty for all of their guidance and support; as well as the dedicated technical assistants for generously imparting the wisdom of their experience.

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Lynette

BOSA

Since the loss of my grandfather, my work has dealt with the emotional and mental states that one transitions through when dealing with grief. Using crocheted yarn as a medium to evoke nostalgia, the objects and fabric forms create a collection of memories while also alluding to the burden of regret over missed opportunities.

The taxidermy birds signify preservation of not only memories, but of life- a nest of collected moments that will endure.

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Jay

CABALU

The use of collage in my art draws upon direct sources of popular culture, using the vocabulary of media to inspire further interpretation. I use found materials such as street posters and magazine advertisements to create an allegorical setting which satirizes the superficiality and moral indifference of popular culture. My recent work also incorporates archaic Filipino characters, Baybayin, to reflect the loss of minority identity in mass culture. As a minority living in a Western society I have witnessed the power of commercialism first hand, as over time my own heritage has become displaced by the allure of popular culture.

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Tara

HALLQUIST

While identity has always been a central theme, my most recent work looks at the relationship between personal identity, mental states, and the home. While interior spaces witness the habitual behaviours of drug abuse and the effect on family relationships, their walls also conceal these realities from external observers. It is these environments which nurture us and become a catalyst for the mental states that surround our sense of self. By revealing the various tensions that compose a spatial environment, I wanted to raise issues around what constitutes a home, and how forms of abuse can infuse a spaces which nurture a child’s identity.

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Bri

HARRISON

At the core of my work is an exploration of the relationship between female identity and contemporary culture.

Dealing with tensions between gender and sexual identity, my most recent work attempts to subvert the means of representation in contemporary culture. While I utilize painting to express my ideas, part of my artistic process is engaging directly with the materials. For me, contemporary painting is the reinvention of form; through the use of colour, line and the overall treatment of the material.

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Yvonne

LEE

As a society we have become increasingly reliant on, and covetous of, technology. As an invisible force, we often regard bandwidth as an infinite resource we could never exhaust. We value our access to wireless services as it helps us keep up with the rapid pace of our lives, but despite our beliefs there is a limit. My painting depicts a city in which the urban landscape has become dramatically altered to accommodate our greedy mindset; each structure suffocated by pulsating towers fuelling our need for more.

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Lisa

LUCOW

Constructions of a Nightmare is an attempt to bring the image of a dream state into sculptural form. When I awake from a dream for a split second the visual is often superimposed over the objects in my darkened room. A blanket on a chair might appear like a white form of a man crouching. If my dream was a nightmare the man image will appear threatening and cause me to gasp.

As a child these images would frighten me and I had no words for them. When my own children were young I kept them close while they slept.

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Andrew

LUND

Creating a conversation between new-media and traditional forms, my recent work re-imagines digital designs to exist in a physical space. Created in ratios of 3:4 for symmetry and balance, the orthogonal and rigid elements of the design inform the manipulation of materials as well as the final form. Inspired by minimalist sculptures, I am intrigued by the navigation of our bodies in a spatial environment. Using rigid lines and points I attempted to manipulate the viewer’s experience through scale and confinement, while leaving the outside raw and unfinished to expose the construction process that defines the space.

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Dana

MILLER

Female identity has been a theme dominant throughout my body of work. My most recent drawing series focuses on the internal and external tensions which govern how gender identity is constructed, as well as the consequences which arise from the prescriptive roles that social institutions dictate. I wanted to visually communicate how social expectations manipulate our own self-image by permeating our lives and fuelling insecurities. Whether we believe it or not, we all play into the game perpetuated by media- and it is only through awareness that we can begin to differentiate between our personal identities and the ones we are being sold.

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Jasmin

NGUYEN

Dealing with themes of anxiety, my most recent work explores the tensions which surround the institution of marriage. I wanted to critique the aspect of a ‘timeline’ which women must follow in order to fit within society’s expectations. My installations feature “feminine” objects with discordant materials to create a poignant portrayal of the mental anxiety which can surround these landmark events. The tension between materials is meant to visually communicate the distress which occurs for women who feel detached from this designated path being imposed by external social institutions.

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ROZ Born and raised in Iran, ROZ has been controlled by the constraints of culture and religion. She became familiarized with Western culture when she moved to Canada ten years ago, which has caused her internal dilemma. Unable to fully abandon the gender values deeply rooted in Persian culture, ROZ utilizes art to challenge the construction of feminine identity in Iran.

Her aim is to create works of art that embody resistance towards hegemonic discourses that constrain women to prescribed social roles, as well as to provide support for individuals who also struggle with the simultaneous exposure of different cultures.

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Caroline

SAFIANUK

The impetus for social change throughout human civilization has been driven by the evolution of our environments. Our social behaviours, as well as the motivations behind them, have been a central theme in my paintings. What interests me the most is how values and beliefs are varied amongst people, and how certain groups are formed by shared interest that bring them together. Are our motives divergences, or merely the illusion of disparity.

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Antonio

SU

Conflicts of the human psyche and the culmination of emotions which compose our identity are themes which have deeply influenced my work. My most recent video installation explores the paradox of internal versus external conflict which occurs through self-exploration, spiritualistic ceremony, as well as self-help procedures meant to correct anomalous behaviour.

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Katie

WALKER

Our innovations have dramatically shaped modern man and the modern condition. With the spread of capitalism and technological evolution, the world is being connected in ways never known previously. Yet while opening global interaction, physical contact has all but been replaced by an electronic interface. In my recent work I wanted to question the social behaviours, as well as the cultural and psychological conditions which often results from rapid technological changeespecially the potential for increased isolation and synthetic communities. Technology has the ability to advance our society positively, but it takes an active awareness to limit potential detriment.

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Deanna

WELTERS

The intersection of urban and natural spaces is at the centre of my recent body of work. Composed of several paintings which depict abstracted urban landscapes, the colours and texture are a reflection of my personal feelings of joy, curiosity and concern as I watch my spatial environment evolve. The tensions created through the visual vocabulary are meant to invoke discourse around the need to balance urban development with the protection of bio-diverse habitats which support life.

In addition to conceptual development, a large part of my artistic process is exploring and manipulating line, texture, and colour to create spatial environments which reflect my internal perceptions of the physical world.

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