Curatorial Statement The purpose of this catalog is to showcase what the artist themselves considers to be their strongest, most accomplished work created this past year. Rather than a traditional exhibition, categorizing artwork by concept or medium, this publication would like to showcase strong artworks that ten artists are proud to have completed. In this publication we strive to strengthen the relationship between artist, artwork and exhibition by bringing a sense of positivity, empowerment, pride and happiness for a moment to celebrate accomplishments together. This exhibition has been curated to showcase a variety of styles of artwork that offer an aesthetic cohesiveness to one another. Due to the pandemic in 2020, the original intent of a gallery exhibition has been transformed into a catalogue.
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Curated by Katherine Parthimos Designed by Le Lin
Special thanks to: Annie Jefferson Alicia Molinetti Jacqui Beaumont Negar Nakhai Sylvia Erlichman-Gross Funded by Fine Arts Student Alliance / 2020
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ARTISTS: Charlotte Rainville, alias jailli Paulina Bereza Claudia Persechino-Morin Mathilde Jobin Julie-Claude Vezeau-Croteau JosĂŠ Lara MenĂŠndez Jay Krakower Ophelia Spinosa Jennifer Lee Elena Hoh
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Charlotte Rainville, alias jailli: GIRLS 16"x 20", Photographic paper print from a 35 mm Portra 400 negative, 2019 Artist Bio Charlotte Rainville, also known as "jailli" online, is a twenty-year-old photographer, art director and graphic designer from Montreal, Canada who is currently completing her BFA in Photography at Concordia University. Through her artistic work, she experiments with the mixture of photography and psychology, putting the focus of her practice on storytelling, visual simplicity, empathy and listening to her subjects. Artwork Description "Girls" is Charlotte Rainville's attempt to establish a conversation around unjust censorship on social media and more specifically on Instagram. The latter, whose censorship of the breast reflects the social norms that affect the female body, only contributes to the sexualization of women's anatomy. Through her "Girls" series, Rainville addresses that the unfair censorship of women that happens online also impacts what happens off-screen, only feeding into an already vicious cycle of objectification and women's selfhatred. All in all, "Girls" is jailli's reminder that what is even more unnatural than making women feel like they are an object or like their bodies are inherently sexual or inadequate is stripping a woman of the right to represent her body as she pleases.
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Paulina Bereza: FALSE MEMORY 32" x 80" x 5", Hand Dyed Cotton Yarn, Mohair, Rayon, Steel, 2020 Artist Bio Paulina Bereza is a Polish born, Montreal based fibre artist and designer. She is currently enrolled at Concordia University, in her third year as a Major in Fibre and Material practices. Her main concerns lie within topics of time, origins and the concept of a "home". The inherent qualities of materiality are at the centerfold of her woven and sculptural works. Her favorite medium is found objects. Artwork Description The piece "False Memory" speaks to concepts of recollection in relation to the passage of time. Key architectural elements, such as windows and door frames are used to equivocally transform the surrounding environment. Drawing from enduring memories of walls, places or shelters, the piece free stands monumentally, interposing its backdrop. The double weave tapestry references ideas from primal architecture, where weavings served as walls. The frame creates a sculptural tension between the flexibility of the weaving and the rigidity of the steel, as well as the flatness of the materials and its subtle 3D construction. With this, a dialogue is evoked between the past, present and the future; stimulating our memory of the prosaic, and hinting at vague perceptions of passages and movement.
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Claudia Persechino-Morin: THE GERMAN BOOK ABOUT THE BACKSTREET BOYS 36" x 30", Oil and Acrylic on Canvas, 2020 Artist Bio Claudia Persechino-Morin was born in 1996 in Montreal. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a minor in German at Concordia University in 2020. She now lives and works in Montreal. Artwork Description This work is a representation of a 1996 German book on the Backstreet boys I received while I was studying in Germany. Spending a year abroad influenced my work as I was experiencing great feelings of nostalgia. Thinking about the music I heard and listened to as a child, I got interested in the "boy band" genre, its music, aesthetic and fandom. Not only does the painting evoke popular nostalgia for the early 2000's music, but also evokes it at a personal level and a different time frame because it reminds me of my recent time in Germany. The depiction of the book itself frames the object and its important role as conveyor of memories and creates a level of distancing which recalls nostalgia. What is painted are not the Backstreet Boys, but a photograph of them on a book cover. The uneven lettering and slightly inaccurate portraiture of the band members refers to childlike, amateur skills, which gives the faces an eerie look. It creates simultaneously pleasure and discomfort: we are drawn to the work, yet we want to distance ourselves from it.
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Mathilde Jobin: GOSSIP 24" x 15" x 10", Ceramic, Found Materials (Shoelaces, Winnie The Pooh Charm), 2020 Artist Bio Mathilde's sensibility is the root of her creative process and subjects, as she is highly influenced by her childhood, overall nostalgia, observation of everyday life and pop culture. Whichever material she chooses to use from painting, drawing, fibers, found objects or ceramics, her energy and ideas flow organically-often from flashes or inspiration taken from dreams-which allows her mediums to express their materiality. Mathilde's recognizable touch is the use of color and patterns, the addition of found objects to her artworks, and a strange joyfulness.
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Julie-Claude VezeauCroteau: EVOLVING NARRATIVE 8 tiles of 10" x 9" x 1/4" and a Zine of 7" x 5", Installation Porcelain Tiles and Graphic Novel, 2020 Artist Bio Daily life objects reflect ways that we have lived, as well as the ways that we are living. I am interested in how comics, ceramics and other mediums can alter the way that we see these objects and create a space where we can reflect on ourselves. Artwork Description This project consists of 8 porcelain tiles and a zine. Each tile is based on a page of the comic and is shown in the same order. I was interested in exploring the relationship between ceramics and graphic narratives. How the material qualities of ceramic could shift and transform an existing story structure and could alter its visual cues? I used a Xerox image transfer technique. This technique would keep some details of the panels and hide others. Then, I poured a thin layer of slip and, once leather hard, I played with it. I collaged, stretched and squashed the slab in a free and flexible way. The clay would capture the impact of each gesture and slowly it alters the narrative until the figurative comic would start to shift to abstraction. I would use each part of the slab and reuse the dust and scraps of the trimming process of the previous piece and add it to composition. My hope would be that giving the viewer the original comic will create clues and hints about this process and hopefully how clay and its manipulation shift the initial story. I also wish that the result will appeal the viewer's imagination and that the composition will evoke different narratives.
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José Lara Menéndez: STICKY HAND TOY 60" x 33" x 67", Styrofoam, 2020 Artist Bio José Lara Menéndez is a artist based in Tiohtiá:ke/ Montreal. His work explores subjects resembling queer experiences of fluster, awkwardness and confusion. They use humour and eeriness to engage the narratives behind their work. Menéndez is driven by telling universal fiction and/or non-fiction queer/trans narratives. Artwork Description Sticky Hand Toy is a piece further from the artists' usual practice. While they typically work with oil painting, when they delve into other mediums they use the language of humour to keep their viewer engaged with their subject. This sculpture is based off a 3D model which the artist recreated to their height. It meant to reproduce a children's sticky hand toy through the artist's vision. The use of domes across the sculpture references sex toys making the sculpture playful, with sexual tones but also repelling the viewer. By also referring to a familiar object, the artwork is brought to a nostalgic and approachable place. Although it is not within the realm of his usual practice, the piece holds humorous tones with a sense of eeriness like his paintings.
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Jay Krakower: IN MY BIG GIRL BED, NOT IN MY HOUSE ANYMORE 8" x 10", Oil on Linen, 2020 Artist Bio Jay Krakower grew up in Toronto, Ontario and works with her childhood and current life experiences through her artwork. She is a multidisciplinary artist working with various materials to represent her exploration of her body, trauma, and her past living spaces, by depicting her current body in those places. Artwork Description I am constantly questioning how my childhood traumas have manifested today. As I look back through images of my childhood house, I have started to remember what happened in my home. These memories and traumas have been things I have avoided thinking about for years. I place myself in my childhood home which is no longer accessible to me in my current body and age. By doing so, I question those memories, confront them, and try and work through how they have manifested in me today. From the stairs in my childhood home, to my bedroom dresser, all these spaces have long lasting memories which come along with them. This will be done through a series of oil paintings of all different sizes and surfaces. There are currently nine pieces in this series but it is continuing to grow as I look through old pictures and remember things from those places. These works invite the viewer to have insight into my memories, see how I feel currently and have vulnerable interaction with my work.
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Ophelia Spinosa: FRUITS OF LABOUR 18:18 minutes, Film, Digital (CanonC300II), Colour, 2020 (Snapshots) Artist Bio Ophelia is of Italian-Canadian descent, originally hailing from Southern Ontario. Having grown up in a home with strict limits on technological access, Ophelia regards film as a privilege. Her oeuvre often explores the dynamism between sacrifice & love, women, and themes of culture, family, and spirituality. Opheliaspinosa.com/ @opheliaspinosa on Instagram. Film Synopsis Interplaying the metaphor of grapes, this father-daughter documentary is characterized by the labour of love it is to make wine, but also the labour of love that is love itself. My father does not openly discuss himself nor his past, especially with his daughter. Over time, our silent relationship has developed into a missing portion of my identity, which grows more intense as he ages. This film has become a conduit to express my love and gentleness for this man, despite a distance between us. Through his humble demeanour and eagerness to unite his trade with the art world, he offers an existentially religious and philosophical view of life and physical work. Cinematography by Andrew Brito Hernandez Editing by Ophelia Spinosa and Daniel Slapcoff Other Team Members: Laura Kamuguisha, Andres Solis, Esteban Maturana, Victor Ivanov, Tim Horlor
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Jennifer Lee: 10:37 Pencil Crayon and Graphite on Frosted Mylar, 2019 Artist Bio My art practice is personal and embodies my life experiences; I use this as a way of opening up a dialogue for conversations about mental illness. My goal is to explore the power of art therapy and share my vulnerable memories in order to form a connection with the viewer. Artwork Description 10:37 is a short confessional graphic novel project focusing on themes of sexual assault, repressed memories, and carving an identity following a traumatic event. Inspired by Beach House's song, 1​0:37​,it is a personal reflection that deals with flashbacks, and repressed, painful memories resurfacing within a minute of time, between 10:37 and 10:38. This short graphic novel explores the difficult topics of sexual assault, intoxication, and loss of innocence. This is a piece about finding an identity following a traumatic event, female empowerment and resilience. This experience has been a traumatic event that comes up every now and again as repressed memories and flashbacks throughout everyday life. The role that this trauma has played on my life has been difficult but physically expressing these repressed events has helped me carve an identity as an individual, artist, and young woman in society.
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Elena Hoh: 1000 LANDSCAPES 36" x 16 ", Digital Print on Thai Kozo, 2019 Artist Bio Elena Hoh works primarily in fibres and print to explore the relationship between psychological landscapes and natural landscapes. How can a domestic space echo a natural environment? How does learning leave traces in bodies or mountains? How do you practice practice? Artwork Description 1000 layers / 1000 landscapes is an accumulation of hundreds of drawings done in a dotted bullet journal. Squeezed into any space available, each landscape was drawn as a tiny attempt to escape the city. 1000 layers / 1000 landscapes is about wanting to be elsewhere, and the struggle to bring a tiny piece of relief in the form of a tiny landscape into a brief moment.
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© 2020 Fine Arts Student Alliance This book is set in the typeface OHOK by Alex Marini Curated by Katherine Parthimos Designed by Le Lin 28 pages 4 x 6" Bound and printed in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal on unceded Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) territory.
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