Log

Last Thursday, I’ve attended in Carlton North a one-night-only site-specific exhibition, Holes in the Wall, curated by Theresa Harrison. The concept was interesting as they emptied a home of its inhabitants and 12 artists were invited to exhibit their works using the domestic space. The viewers were then able to look at the installations and displays of various art forms through the house windows.  This project was original as it explored the notion of voyeurism in an artistic manner. There were still a lot people there when I arrived; standing all around the house itself and onto the sidewalk. I had the chance to see Shay Minster’s Slow Dance installation for a second time, which I saw when it was first shown at theWest Space gallery. I also discovered Linsey Gosper, a photographic artist, who displayed a wall-size print, entitled Gothic Mime, a self-portrait from her collection of role-play femmes fatales.   

A friend of mine who is a collector of graphic novels, lent me the 3 volumes of the series Le photographe. This graphic novel documents the journey of French photojournalist Didier Lefèbre, co-author, during his travels with Médecins Sans Frontières in Afghanistan in 1986. There are illustrations from Emmanuel Guibert, as well as black and white photographs all taken by Didier. I quite enjoyed reading the series as it gave me a glimpse of the hardship involved in setting up a clinic in a war torn country, a journey well photographed by Didier. Some of the images are not for the faint at heart.  After reading the series, I rekindled with my appreciation of black-and-white photography and photojournalism. As for Didier, he had travelled around the world, where he followed MSF. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2007.

My talk on Thursday evening at the Guildford Lane Gallery went well, and the experience was less frightful than I had anticipated it. There were 3 other artists who also gave talks. We were a small group which made it easier to feel comfortable. I was impressed with the talk of Jillian Allan on her Japanese paper débutante dresses and their representation of fragility. One can appreciate good art when there is coherence and depth between the idea and the final project. I felt the same way when I went to the Center for Contemporary Photography yesterday to  listen to the artists talks. David van Royen’s talk on his self-portait series, Not moving,  was truly the most inspiring one of all. Firstly because it dealt with self-portraiture and identity, a topic I’ve been exploring. Secondly, the images were well composed, and the original idea of identity was well depicted thoughout the series. The show runs until May 16th. 

After 100s of emails between the web guy and I, and a few fistfuls of pulled hair, I can proudly say the latest version of my website is finally finished, up and running!I tried no to get too distracted when this website was being “under construction”. The solution was to stay busy: I had a show to prepare for and its opening to attend. In the end, things panned out well: the installation for the show Embodiment: Fashion, Image, & Art  at the Guildforg Lane Gallery happened smoothly and the opening went well. Friends, family, and supporters dropped by for which I was very grateful. Tonight, I will be heading back to the gallery to give a talk about my project. My first ever talk. Here are the images I’ve displayed for the show: Here’s how it looked on the wall:

The opening on Thursday night for the “Embodiment: Fashion, Image and Art” at the Guildford Lane Gallery turned out well. I had the chance to meet with the other artists and catch up with friends. The feedback was constructive for this show which was significantly different to what I presented in the past. These were the images I used for the current exhibit: