46TH ANNUAL SENIOR UNDERGRADUATE EXHIBITON University of Waterloo, Fine Arts 2020
FOREWORD Time passes much too quickly. For the graduating class of 2020, this old familiar saying could not be more relevant. The profundity of it may sweep across each student as they look around the gallery and see their own work and the work of their peers. It might surface when they think about how much they are going to miss East Campus Hall, faculty and staff, equipment—each other. Or when they give internal thanks and finally say “we made it.” Interlude, the title of this exhibition, is a metaphoric nod to pausing time. It also speaks to the brief period of calculable time that the thesis exhibition is up for, and to the space that these students hold. They hold it with the knowledge that in this collaborative moment they have achieved something truly remarkable that represents not only their hard work, dedication and commitment but also expresses and represents their own individuality and creativity. They hold it with the understanding that they did not get here alone and that they will not leave here alone. The bonds formed aren’t easily broken or forgotten and skills acquired will continue to be built on. We faculty are also undone by time. Looking at these students with such fondness, remembering their early years, delighting in their artistic growth and feeling immense pride in their current accomplishments, one cannot help but wonder—where have four years gone? Well…time has come to celebrate. Let’s not waste it! Lois Andison Associate Professor, Fine Arts
INTRODUCTION An interlude is a pause between acts - an intervening period of time. This exhibition is the culmination of four years at this university- honing our crafts, exploring new methods of creation, and discovering who we are as artists. Now is our time to take a brief pause before emerging from this university as budding artists; holding four years worth of skill, determination, and perseverance. The journey has not been easy, but it has been immensely rewarding. We have all had the pleasure of learning under the wings of some incredible professors and artists alike. We have been pushed outside the comfort of familiar boxes, encouraged to explore the cutting edge, and lifted to our highest caliber. For this, we leave you with these final pieces of our work at the University of Waterloo. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you - and all those who helped us along the way- for joining us in this space between what came before, and what comes next for us. Above all else, enjoy the interlude.
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Barber, Sophie Boyer, Sabrina Forwell, Dianna Haviland, Hannah Jiang, Emily Kumpula, Cassandra Liang, Ricky Mapplebeck, Cheyenne Martin, Katelyn Mahrez, Meriem Merlihan, Cassandra Merrall, Martha Nirmalan, Ragavy Shah, Pushti Sparkes, Joann Stumpf, Kayla Tian, Claire Ulmer, Julia Wu, Amy Zhao, Wen Xin
SOPHIE BARBER sophie.lynn.barber@gmail.com @sophi3art
In my studio practice, I address my childhood through soft sculpture and installation. Themes of memory and violence reside within my large-scale pieces. I explore these themes by recreating past personal events through the creation of meat and carcass inspired bodies. I primarily use sculpture in my practice, but explore many other mediums including drawing and painting. In my current work, there is also an exploration into reviving past experiences and presenting them in a provoking way. I hand stitch and stain raw canvas with paint to create visceral body masses that represent figures. These figures include myself as well as people from my childhood. The representation of my family in this way, allows me to suggest the past seen through a darker lens.
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Family Portrait, Sculpture and Installation
SABRINA BOYER sabrinaboyer.ca sabrina.m.boyer@gmail.com @sabrinaboyer_
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Lobsters, Xanax & The Seductive Allure of Capitalism is part of an ongoing body of sculptural work which takes the form of research and multimedia installation. This work exemplifies the multi-disciplinarity of my practice and employs a range of techniques including laser cutting, reductive sculpting, casting, gilding, and soft sculpture. Using the imagery of 2mg Xanax bars and lobsters, in combination with the colour magenta, this installation explores ideas of aesthetics, commodity, perceived value, mass production, symbolism, and ultimately how capitalism entices the consumer to consume. Xanax and lobster imagery are used because of the multiplicity of associations that are tied to them. Lobsters, while considered a luxury today, were once looked down upon as a poor man’s food, until the bourgeoisie constructed the illusion of its value. Xanax, a drug invented to treat anxiety, has become a symbol for drug culture, and has implications to the overdose crisis as well as pop culture, mental illness, and the pharmaceutical industry.
Lobsters, Xanax & The Seductive Allure of Capitalism, Mixed Media Installation, 10’ x 10’
DIANNA FORWELL diannaforwell@hotmail.com @diannaforwellart
Through my current body of paintings, I portray intimate moments and relationships in varying ways, sometimes including nature. I have a desire to make sense of the connections between us, and my work draws inspiration from this curiosity. I purposefully choose to look at subjects through a close-up lens often painting hands or sections of a face to suggest a tender feeling or moment. I use oil paint for its deep and rich colours, its expressive nature to depict an accurate and representational image while maintaining a painterly quality. For me, viewing these paintings is an intimate act itself because the viewer stands where I stand, as I make my paintings, and can follow the movements of my hand across the canvas, via the brushwork. Peach Fuzz is a pair of paintings that seeks to embody these moments.
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Peach Fuzz, oil paint, 3’ x 5’
HANNAH HAVILAND hannah.haviland@hotmail.com @hannah.haviland
My studio practice combines my passion for science, specifically entomology, with my artistic abilities and concerns for nature. Raised on a farm in rural southern Ontario, I draw from personal experience and attempt to translate these feelings and observations into something that both left and right brained people can understand. In attempting to create work that both scientists and artists are eager to engage with, and explore topics to inspire and ignite curiosity into the world of entomology.
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I primarily work with paper and natural elements (wood) to create miniature sculptures to be presented in groupings, through installation. The grouping of each insect directly relates back to how the subjects are found in nature, allowing for a glimpse into natural entomology. Through creating small, detailed, intimate works I highlight the fragility and beauty of insects. By using the aesthetics of beauty, geometry and repetition, I attempt to communicate how insects are not a phobia, but rather a fascination.
insect-inside, Sculpture and Installation, paper, silicone, varied sizing
EMILY JIANG www.yuhongjiang.com emilyuhong@gmail.com @emilyuhong
I have been investigating the relationship between the human body and prevalent industrial materials such as, plastics, in contemporary society. In the studio, I have been making sculptural objects (collages of organic figures and abstract forms) that are a response to the imminent call to environmental issues as well as suggesting the deteriorating living conditions of human beings, regardless of technological improvements. Through research and experimentation with materials like clay, plastic, resin, and sometimes recorded sounds, I try to initiate a visceral experience to the viewer.
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Breath, Sculpture, (clay, paint, plexiglass, sound), 6”x 9’’
CASSANDRA KUMPULA cassandrakumpula.io ckumpula123@gmail.com @honeypink2017
In my current work, I have been making a series of drawings of various types of candy packaging. My process involves taking my own photographs as the basis to construct my drawings. I draw a border on my paper, and then I rough in a light sketch on the page to fill out the space as accurately as I can. Then, working on one area at a time, using my photography as a reference, I draw more exact forms on the page and fill them in with value. Through the use of graphite on paper I am able to achieve tones and contrast effectively. My primary theme of candy, as well as other food products, is influenced by Pop Art. I feel that the subject of candy is a common and relatable image as my subjects can be consumed by anyone.
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Untitled, 0.7 HB lead on mayfair paper
RICKY LIANG rickyliang072@gmail.com @rickyicky_
My work explores the themes of self-identity in relation to personal lived experience. I was born in Vancouver, BC, and after several years, I was sent to Guangzhou, China to live with my grandparents until I returned to Canada at the age of 7. In my work, I use this string of events to explore and express a limbo that can exist between eastern and western cultures. My paintings represent memory and refer to physical landscapes where I have lived. I use strokes of black ink in a painterly fashion on a delicate,translucent ground as a means of describing and deconstructing intangible experiences. Memory is evoked through an installation of layered and intersecting paintings that underscore the fragility and strength of one’s identity.
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“1999”, “2005”, “2017”, ink on paper
CHEYENNE MAPPLEBECK cheyennemapplebeck.com cheyenne.mapplebeck@gmail.com @cbeckart
Growing up, I had always been drawn to pop art - its accessibility and boldness was something that enticed me. I grew up absorbing all aspects of popular culture, and as I matured I began to recognize its lasting impact on our worldthat’s how my thesis work came to be. Red Herring is a body of sculptural works that address the repercussions of late-stage capitalism. This installation examines the concept of what it might look like if the products we consumed were an extension of ourselves, and our psychological reasons for consuming them. I have designed products meant to look authentic at first glance. Every aspect of every product is digitally created by me, then printed and assembled into paper sculptures. Subtle details and clues on each package seek to question the world we live in, and ultimately ask the question: are we what we consume? 20
Red Herring, sculpture and installation
KATELYN MARTIN kdmartin@rogers.com @katelynlmartin4
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In my studio work, I seek to convey ideas of unnatural beauty. I have been researching how acrylic paint, as both medium and material, can be used to make sculptural flowers. The process I have developed involves painting individual petals on polyethylene plastic, leaving it to dry, and then hand sculpting the petals to create threedimensional blossoms. The flowers are monochromatic and have an artificial quality, inherent in the plastic qualities that acrylic paint contains. I chose to create flower forms for their association to youth and beauty as a fleeting or seasonal thing and the plasticity of acrylic paints, accentuates the message that natural, organic beauty is no longer natural in contemporary society. I seek to discuss the disappearance of beauty and that the concept of beauty can be rendered and generated from human influence, forcing natural beauty to become unnatural. The synthetic flowers become a metaphor for societal ideals of “natural� beauty.
Perennial, acrylic paint, acrylic medium, 5 ft 6” x 20”
MERIEM MAHREZ meriem1mahrez@gmail.com @artmahrez
I have been creating a series of landscape paintings sourced from photographs I captured during a safari experience in Tanzania. Through the physicality of the medium I aim to emphasize my affinity with the land, as well as the vibrancy of East Africa’s biodiversity through the use of a warm color palette. I use compositional devices such as, a window frame or the suggestion of binoculars, to establish my position as a voyeur and an observer of the land. In my painting practice, it is important that the source images I use have been taken by me from firsthand experiences. I render the paintings through soft brushwork that are the result of repeated application and layers of paint and glazing techniques. I am interested in exploring the ways in which the friction between being an outsider yet feeling immersed into a space can be asserted in a painting. 24
Untouchable, Acrylic on wood panel, (48”x48”)
CASSANDRA MERLIHAN cassandramerlihan.com cassandra@merlihan.com @cassandramerlihan
Through photography, I construct self-portraits in which I transform myself into various characters. These characters are tools to offer a window into one’s experiences with mental health disorders and perception of self. I create imagery that both people who have first-hand experience with mental health issues, and those who do not, can comprehend. These current images allude to the character Alice - from Alice in Wonderland – and are displayed in 11x17” lightboxes. I view this work as a metaphorical way of offering a small window into and shining a light on varying psychological states of being. In the first image, Alice is taking a Prozac capsule, a play on the Eat Me Drink Me portion of the original story. In the second image, Alice is small and trapped in the prescription bottle - a consequence of taking the pill. 26
Take Me, photographs, variable sizing
MARTHA MERRALL marthamerrall.com marthamerrall@gmail.com @mvmrl_art
In my practice I use text and illustration to create tender and playful narratives. I look at how text and image work together to invoke memory and emphasize the everyday interactions we have. I look at how we share space, moments, and time with those closest to us. I am interested in what makes something memorable, and how we remember specific moments we deem important. Working across a variety of media, I gravitate towards soft sculpture and illustration, but I always find a home in printmaking. I appreciate media that allows for spontaneity, creates surprises, and encourages play. I make work with an emphasis on the type of care we give, in order to explore how we can move to be kinder and gentler in our actions.
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Snippets, plexiglass, 24”x4”
RAGAVY NIRMALAN ragavynirmalan@hotmail.com @ragavynirmalan
As a first-generation Canadian artist, I reference my rich Sri Lankan heritage and use the influences of other South Asians, who are also seeking to express their cultural identity. I make drawings and paintings that explore Hindu culture and fashion, with a contemporary twist. I use a variety of mediums in the creation of my work by combining oil, acrylic and charcoal. I view this way of working as a metaphor for blending my Canadian and Sri Lankan upbringing. In my work I seek to showcase a vibrant use of colours and beauty inspired by my culture, my everyday life, and the people around me who spark my non-traditional view of Hindu culture in modern day life.
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Detail - Varma Recreate, oil painting, 24” x 36”
PUSHTI SHAH pxshti.com pxshti@gmail.com @pxshtipaon
As a child of immigrants, my paintings are based on feelings of displacement that comes from growing up in a diaspora. The root of my current work stems from Hinduism, where I attempt to bridge a relationship between my Indian culture and the Western world. I create drawings, paintings and collage works with subjects depicted in roles of empowerment, contrasting how they are traditionally depicted in Indian art. Women are usually seen as meek, or docile in traditional works, but I reject that narrative and showcase females as strong and capable. I use acrylic to create images that break free from photo-realism, maintaining an expressive and colourful manner to my works. 32
Chai ka Cup, acrylic, 4’x3’
JOANN SPARKES joannsparkes.com joann_sparkes@hotmail.com @joannsparkes
In my studio practice, I am exploring the associations that one has with everyday objects that are important to human function. Within this current work, I have used a single bed that incorporates text and sculptural elements that suggest the presence of a body, more specifically my body. The significance of the bed represents a meaningful way of exploring unhealthy habits, as it acts as a place that manifests emotional and physical trauma, which is often masked by its sense to be a place of comfort and safety. By analyzing these habits and emotions, I am not necessarily trying to change the ways in which I deal with past and present trauma, but rather simply recognize and provide a better understanding of why my body has chosen to manifest and subconsciously cope with such events. 34
I Want to Know What a Good Night’s Sleep Feels Like, bed frame, mattress, bedsheet set, white noise, thread, 76 3/4 “ x 39 3/4 “ x 25 5/8 “
KAYLA STUMPF stumpfkayla@gmail.com @kaylassmess
I paint larger than life portraits that are deliberately selected from various “bad selfies� that one would never typically share. The emotional contact evident in these figurative paintings is often seen as socially unacceptable or ironically hidden in our ever-increasing online world. Working with oil paint allows me to work in layers, building up colours while simultaneously revealing the wood ground. I use bright and contrasting colours to suggest movement and depth, and to evoke the expressive quality of paint and brushwork. The titles for the works, Phantoms, stems from the ephemeral source of the digital selfie archive that I have then chosen to bring into the physical realm of painting.
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Phantoms, oil paint on 3 wood panels, 24”x30”
CLAIRE TIAN zhiqingtian@hotmail.com @clurrs.studio
I make abstract paintings that explore ideas of the universe as an infinite entity, filled with wonder and uncertainty. I often find myself studying the night sky and imagining a world beyond our world. To reflect these interests, the works I create are based on how I perceive the universe with the idea ofsuggesting the consciousness of thecosmos through ink.In order to make the paintings, I work flat on the tablewith the use of free flowing inks. This creative, yet meditative process allows me to embrace the beauty of chance in our reality and question why are things the way they are as well as explore broader concepts of free will. This is inherent in the process I have developed, where there is control yet simultaneously, a lack of control.
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Kalopsia, Alcohol ink on yupo paper, 24” x 30”
JULIA ULMER juliaulmer.com julia96ulmer@hotmail.com @julmerart
I draw from both the physical and the digital worlds to explore how space and form affects one’s interaction with contrasting relationships of calm and interruption, pulling in and pushing away, and desire and memory. These themes stem from my experience with a rare knee condition that prevented me from playing sports, going outside during the winter, and many other activities associated with childhood play. In Blurred Vision I draw from these experiences and explore ideas found within lasting trauma, particularly pain and the temporary relief thereof. I display two edited photographs in GIF format to juxtapose how both these themes contribute to the distortion of memory. There are multiple reflections within the piece that betray the subject’s true desires and fears. It blurs the lines between what is reality and what is memory, and what is authentic and what is a reflection. 40
Blurred Vision, digitally altered photographs, 6000x4000 pixels
AMY WU amy93202@gmail.com
I have been making photographs that capture a figure in motion, creating a ghostly image that contrasts with the stillness of the space within which they are situated. The figures are typically situated within a domestic space and emphasize the relationship between the chaotic self, through the movement and restlessness of figure, and their environment. I use slow shutter speeds in order to create a blurring of the figure as a means of suggesting a feeling of vulnerability and loneliness. The struggles of recapturing that comfort and contentment is shown through the restless movements of the figure contrasting with the stillness of the space within which they are situated. The unfamiliarity of home stems from the struggle of discovering that individuality, and the cause of these uncertainties, can alienate oneself from the physical world. My photographs posed the question: where do you belong, if you don’t know who you are? 42
Presence, photograph, variable sizing
ALICE ZHAO wxzalice333@gmail.com @wenxart
My paintings reflect on an emotional response to birds. I admire the lightness of their feathers, the freedom for them to soar and their ability to conquer the sky. In a series of watercolour paintings, I am painting the birds as a kind of self-portrait. The freshness of watercolour is delightful for me to express the brushwork as it softly touches the paper, leaving the fluid marks. Through my paintings, I seek to create a sense of liveness for the birds as if they would be able to stretch their wings and fly away. As I paint each and every bird, I am imagining myself becoming the bird I draw, lighthearted and satisfied. The type of birds I choose to represent myself are the flamingo and swan. Sometimes I want to be as passionate as flamingos whose feathers are blazing as fire. There are also times where I am trying to act as elegant as a swan, always stay calm and be rational. 44
Self as the Bird (series), Watercolour, 11” x 14”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to take a moment to thank the faculty and staff of our Fine Arts community with their help and guidance through the makings of the works presented in this catalogue.
Our Professors Lois Andison, Doug Kirton, Cora Cluett & Matthew Carver
Guest Professors David MacWilliam & Bruce Taylor
Technical Staff Adam Glover, Richard Nixon, Timothy Walker & Jean Stevenson
Administrative Staff Brett Roberts & Sharon Dahmer
Curator Ivan Jurakic A special thanks to the faculty of Fine Arts for supporting our collective growth and development throughout our time in the program. Thank you for the memorable moments and amazing learning experiences you have provided for us.
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