Mya Lauer

Petrichor

Monday, March 31 - Friday, April 4

Gordon Snelgrove Gallery 

Reception: Friday, April 4, from 6 - 9pm

The smell after the rain… a moment of repose, new beginnings, cleansing of the past. How did I get here and where will I go? Petrichor is a rumination, the memories of my past mingled with my hopes for the future. Melancholy and bittersweet, whimsical yet grounded. A celebration of being involved in the internet and book culture of the 00s and 10s, while also being raised in a rural area, where I had deep connections with family and more animal friends than human ones. A reflection and projection of my multiple experiences with health issues since birth as well as being neurodivergent. What does my past mean for my future? Is my escapism through fantasy and art an asset or a stepping stone in preparation for emerging from academia for the first time since kindergarten and into the “real world”? These are the questions I was asking while creating Petrichor. It is an invitation to take a look into my sliver of the world that we share together. 

About the Artist

Mya Lauer is an artist from Bredenbury, Saskatchewan. Mya is primarily a painter, although they dabble in printmaking, sculpture and occasionally other forms of craft and creation. She has recently found a way of working that is drawn from historical inspiration such as blackwork engravings, art nouveau and illuminated manuscripts. Mya often explores symmetry, and in turn, asymmetry in their work. Flowers, insects, animals and the figure are common features. Many of Mya’s pieces are a collection of these, arranged in a way to evoke a certain emotion, theme or memory. 

Kelsey Pavier

(the Kinetics of) Restoration 

Monday, March 31 - Friday, April 4

Gordon Snelgrove Gallery 

Artist Talk: Wednesday, April 2, at 6:00pm - 6:30pm

Reception: Wednesday, April 2, from 6:30 - 9:00pm

In this trans-disciplinary, intermedia installation, Pavier partners with her long-time friend, Fred Berry (BSc Honours Biochemistry) and The Department of Biology in a collaborative exploration of the single celled microalgae, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Pavier and Berry pair artistic and scientific research to present iterations of the cell’s phototaxis capabilities and its bright green chlorophyll fluorescence. The works articulate the feeling of wonder of engaging with what was once microscopic becoming tangible and embodied.

Pavier’s relational art practice engages friendship as a methodology for exchange-based research. This extends her existing practices as a birth-worker, food-sovereigntist, and other modalities that fall under ethics of care.

About the Artist

Kelsey Pavier is an intermedia artist in Saskatoon. Her multi-sensory works and installations draw from her deep-rooted background as a birth worker and highlight the essence of motherhood, and transformation.

Fred Berry holds a BSc Honours in Biochemistry and spent five years researching photosynthesis in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in the late 2010s. She returned to Usask in 2023 to complete a second BSc, this time in Biology, to transfer to the field of ecological restoration with native plants.