Meerah Abesia
COMPLEXITIES
Tuesday, April 2 - Saturday, April 6, 2024
Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, open Tuesday - Friday between 10am - 4pm, and Saturday, April 6 from 12 - 5pm
Reception: Friday, April 5 at 6 - 9pm
COMPLEXITIES is a multi-media exhibition that tackles my experience with social anxiety and self-image. The irrational fear of being seen in public or stared at can feel overwhelming or suffocating. With social media and technology increasingly becoming the norm, perceptions of beauty and how I saw myself were skewed. I have developed a series of paintings and video projections that interpret these complex thoughts and emotions. Recurring imagery using eyes and glitchy televisions reflects the state of unease and disconnectedness while allowing for flexibility in their interpretation and relatability. My work stems from my own exploration of the human figure and how external influences like technology impact how we present and perceive ourselves. Sight holds a lot of power, to the point where, in this exhibition, you have to wonder if you are the viewer or the one being viewed.
About the Artist
Meerah Abesia is a graphic designer and emerging artist who explores digital and traditional mediums. Her art's themes include mental health and the integration of the human figure. She is a fourth-year student at the University of Saskatchewan and will graduate this Spring as a Studio Art major from the Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours program. Meerah has been involved with the University of Saskatchewan's Visual Arts Students' Union VASU, starting as the Graphics Director in 2020, Treasurer in 2021 and then President from 2021 to present. She is also one of the Festival Organizers for Nuit Blanche Eve 2023, a Board Director at PAVED Arts, and the Design Director for Youth Helping Youth Saskatchewan.
Atrayee Basu
Presence in Absence
Tuesday, April 2 - Saturday, April 6, 2024
Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, open Tuesday - Friday between 10am - 4pm, and Saturday, April 6 from 12 - 5pm
Reception: Friday, April 5 at 6 - 9pm
Presence in Absence is an installation that tells a story of relations and memories. It focuses on understanding the link between cultural landscapes and establishing a dialogue between lived and living memories. Each piece in this show tells a story about my unique memories and curiosity for mediums, processes, and enquiry. Growing up in India with my loving grandmothers, my interest in material emerged. One grandma’s clay house and another grandma’s art knowledge and associations with spices encouraged me to experiment with various materials, spices, and techniques for my installation. Recollection of smell and the tactile nature of clay inspired a pickle jar sculpture. The smell-scape of my childhood tickles my mind with happy memories. Saree is a traditional attire; using the fabric directly connects me and my grandmothers. Creating brick walls connects emotionally to my grandma’s place. The fragment of wall installation is a rebuilding of a space where I built happy reminiscences and took refuge. Tea and tea bags are a daily association between them and me. Photographs in the show connect the dots between my childhood reminiscences and the present experience. Cyanotype, the historical photography process, is a blueprint that acts as my DNA and builds a relationship by exposing photos on clay tablets that resonate with lived and living memories. The show's bench and frame are made by reclaiming shipping crates. Using everyday objects associated with me in a different landscape is essential to my art practice. The ephemerality of absences is underpinning my presence as an artist.
About the Artist
Atrayee is a multidisciplinary Indian Canadian artist who has created installation art, sculpture, photography, and printmaking for this show. Atrayee will finish her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Honors with a major in Studio Art in the spring of 2024. During her undergraduate years, she delved into research using multiple materials and combined ceramic and cyanotype to find new possibilities. Her love for research in art mediums drags her to more opportunities, so she will be joining the Master of Fine Art (MFA) program at the University of Saskatchewan in the Fall of 2024. Her research interests are intertwined with traditional and contemporary art practices.
During her BFA, as a curator in the Visual Arts Union (VASU), she encouraged the artistic minds of her peers to showcase their love for art. She also takes on multiple community works, such as volunteering at art events and conducting drawing workshops for community gardeners. She teaches at a local art school and the University of Saskatchewan's Community Art program. Atrayee is the recipient of the University of Saskatchewan's Manjari Sharma Memorial Award in Sculpture.
Terry Sykes Knutson
Rescue | Recycle | Repurpose
Tuesday, April 2 - Saturday, April 6, 2024
Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, open Tuesday - Friday between 10am - 4pm, and Saturday, April 6 from 12 - 5pm
Reception: Friday, April 5 at 6 - 9pm
I hope to embody the respect and dignity that all living beings deserve. My inspiration comes from nature and the many animals I have helped protect. I invite the viewer to interpret the meanings within their own perceptions and experiences as they investigate the installation.
The exhibition presents works that offer insight into the impact humans have had on the world. Wars, earthquakes, floods, fires and drought are responsible for loss of habitat and food production for both humans and other beings. Viruses are moving to new locations from environments that originally confined them. In Saskatchewan, the Covid epidemic showed evidence of the inadequate social structure protecting household pets. Post-pandemic, animals that were adopted are now being surrendered at a rate far beyond the capacity of rescuers to cope with. Veterinarians are being inundated with animals who have been neglected, abused and injured. Factory farms are causing unbelievable cruelty to animals who are being used for human consumption. In her book, Fen, Bog and Swamp (2023), Annie Proulx says “Ancient Judeo-Christian beliefs allow humans to use the rest of the world as they wish”. In other words, the world and its inhabitants sole purpose is for use by humans. As humans who have the power, we need to treat “others” with respect and dignity. This exhibition asks what more can humans do to sustain the earth and “others” that live within?
About the Artist
Terry Sykes Knutson is an artist, author and immigrant settler from North-East Saskatchewan, who works in multiple media. Early education and practice in addictions counselling as well as horticultural training are evidence of her commitment to lifelong learning focused on aesthetics and practices of care. Her voluntary work has involved youth, victims of domestic violence and rescue animals. Her love of art and nature is an expression of her spirituality and the bits of satire within it satisfy her whimsical side. Her work is focused on rescue to help restore the environment to a more natural balance. Her passion for animal and human rights has evolved into advocacy based on action. Through her exploration of art and art history she has discovered a world that is intensely personal as well as intensely universal. Her primary focus is in sculpture and all forms of making textile. Terry has participated in exhibitions locally and throughout Saskatchewan, including an exchange, called Antipods, between the Universities of Saskatchewan and Southern Queensland, Australia. Currently completing her BFA Honours with a focus on sculpture and textiles, she will complete the degree with a thesis exhibition April 2-6, 2024.
Programming and Events
Reception: Friday, April 5th at 6 - 9pm.
