Hailey Weber
Resonance
March 27 - March 31, 2023
Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, open Monday to Friday, 10 - 4pm
Reception: Thursday, March 30th at 5:00 - 9:30pm
What resonates within?
Reconsider your relationship with the things around you, the people you encounter, and your place in the world.
As an artist, my work encapsulates both experience and impressions originating from my own life and the lives of the people I know, meet, or observe from a distance. As current time becomes memory, my lens develops, and my work chronicles what I have come to see and to know. Incorporating ever evolving colour paleties, movement, and symbolism often through an abstracted lens, my process acts as a reinvestigation of the natural world where I believe we are all rooted. My work sits somewhere between representational and partially recognizable, straddling the physical world and not-so-physical space that we hold inside. The aim is not towards representation or naturalism. My work is symbolic to embody the poetry of a moment. Furthermore, it is a catalyst to bring the viewer to a place of wonder where they can turn inward to build their own connections and deepen their relationship with themselves. Life experiences persist through the tapestry of my work. I seek to bring the viewer into the moment with me with the hope that one might reconnect with their own memory, sense of belonging, or newfound understanding of their intrinsic place in the world.
About the Artist
Calling Saskatoon home her whole life, Hailey Weber (b.2000) has spent much of her time developing roots in her community through high level sport playing soccer with the University of Saskatchewan, developing bilingualism, diverse volunteerism, and many lived experiences within the community she calls home. Beyond that, Hailey has had the opportunity to travel throughout nearly all of the provinces in Canada, numerous locations in America, Australia, Italy, Mexico, Paris, and beyond in the early years of her life. Through interaction with new cultures, histories, flora, and fauna it has allowed her to understand her place more fully. Through her lived experience, she has come into contact with an incredibly diverse variety of individuals widening her perspective on how others experience life. This investigation of people, place, and culture is central to her practice.
Hailey has been the recipient of a variety of scholarships including the Misanchuk memorial travel scholarship for undergraduate research, an Honours Scholarship from the college of Arts and Science, a book prize for receiving the highest academic average in senior level French, five scholarships from Sasksport, the Anna Bychinski Award for excellence in the fine arts, and support through the Prince Edwards Scholarship from SK Arts.
Hailey is a gentle and observant person that thinks a lot more than she speaks however she has a more gutsy side that comes out though bold mark making that gets vivid and physical next to the softer and elegant strokes that often define her work. This duality is very representative of her personality and outlook on life.
Gordon Mellesmoen
Gordon at the Gordon
March 27 - March 31, 2023
Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, open Monday to Friday, 10 - 4pm
Reception: Thursday, March 30th at 5:00 - 9:30pm
My work focuses on automatic painting, removing myself from the equation as much as possible and transferring complex emotional states into the canvas, directly, without dilution from my conscious mind. Once the canvas has been attacked thoroughly within these limitations, I begin breaking the rules I’ve set out for myself, trusting my intuition to add detail and nuance to the painting which contrasts the raw energy and gestural nature of the work which has been captured to this point. This body of work is heavily influenced by Wassily Kandinsky, who claimed that the color yellow pulls forward, the color blue pulls backwards, and the color green creates a neutral space – this concept forms the cornerstone for my work in color. My work is also heavily informed by music, especially by Joni Mitchell. I employ tactics used by Mitchell in my work, such as seeing the canvas as space to be filled – just like a musical composition. I also use elements like rhythm, momentum, and particularly color harmony – which functions much the same way as harmony in a musical context – colors blend to form new colors, musical notes do the same. Through the use of these concepts and elements I seek to bring light to complex human states of being which most of the time can not be accurately explained to others. My art seeks to accomplish what I believe all good art does: to give a glimpse into the human condition which does not judge or pretend, but elaborates endlessly, demonstrating both the good and the bad realities of being alive.
About the Artist
Gordon was born and raised in Saskatoon, and took to the arts from a young age. He began mostly with drawing in his early years, fascinated with black and white and pencil as well as the human form. In high school, he completed the AP art program at Holy Cross High School, still focusing on drawing in black and white figure and portrait work. After high school, he pivoted, choosing to focus on building a career in music, and spending the next two years in various Saskatoon bands. After those two years, Gordon returned to his education, beginning his BFA journey at the U of S. Quickly he began moving away from figure drawing and into abstract painting, seeking the biggest challenge for his skillset at the time.
Hailey Weber
Resonance
