Current Students

  • Three to Eight exhibition to support student scholarships

    Professor Murray Kropf is exhibiting his most recent collection of paintings in Three to Eight, an exhibition opening Tuesday, Sept. 4 in the VISA Gallery at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. The paintings are being sold to support student scholarships. (Photo by Lorraine Zandvliet)


    (From The Brock News, Wednesday, August 28, 2018 | by Sarah Moore)

    When Brock Associate Professor Murray Kropf puts brush to canvas, his inspiration tends to stem from an academic problem he is currently working through.

    In Three to Eight, his new exhibition opening Tuesday, Sept. 4, Kropf challenged himself to create movement in a piece by using only tone, hue and intensity and painting on square canvases with a very limited colour palette.

    “I was trying to find a better way to teach students about colour theory,” he said of the work that he began last year in early fall. “I was looking for a way to create a harmonious and structured composition that is asymmetrical, but still balanced, using only a palette of between three to eight colours.”

    The result was a series of paintings — the first purely abstract of his career — that Kropf will be selling to fund visual arts scholarships for students in the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA).

    While he is mainly a location and still-life painter, Kropf said he welcomed the change of pace for this work.

    “It went better than I thought it could,” he said of his first stab at abstractionism. “It’s always a problem for painters approaching a canvas, because it’s blank, but everything that came out of this was a surprise and that was lovely. It was a refreshing thing to do.”

    He also said the process will “further inform his teaching” in the future, making him more “appreciative” of what can be accomplished with a limited range of colours.

    Assistant Professor Amy Friend, Chair of the VISA Gallery Committee, said this is the first time a professor has hosted a solo show as a fundraising initiative since she has been involved with the gallery operations.

    “To showcase the work that Murray, one of our senior professors, accomplishes behind-the-scenes in his studio, is really important,” she said. “It also shows the way that art can support community, the generosity of our relationship with our students and the ongoing need to fund student studies.”

    Kropf, who has been teaching at Brock for more than 30 years, said simply that it was “time” to give back to the students and the institution he has been connected to for so long.

    “I want to show my gratitude to my students, to my colleagues, and to the university because I have been very lucky to work here, and I’ve enjoyed it a great deal,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to contribute to awards for students because I’ve been a student and I know how badly support is needed.”

    Three to Eight will be displayed in the VISA Gallery, located on the first floor of the MIWSFPA, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 4, with an opening reception taking place Friday, Sept. 7. The reception will run from 4 to 7 p.m., also in the gallery, and is free and open to the community. The VISA gallery is open to the public Tuesday to Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m.

    All proceeds from the sales of Kropf’s pieces will be donated to scholarships for students in Visual Arts immediately after the exhibition.

    Tags: , , , , ,
    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Events, Exhibitions, Faculty & Instructors, News

  • First-year VISA orientation activities planned for September 4 and 7

    As a new student enrolled in the Department of Visual Arts, you are invited to The New Student Welcome and Academic Orientation as your official welcome to Brock University on September 4! The orientation begins at 8 a.m. in the Ian Beddis Gym, where you’ll hear from President Gervan Fearon and enjoy an inspirational keynote to begin your day and kick-start your term. Afterwards, you are welcome to connect with your faculty and upper year student mentors to receive important information about academic supports and resources. Then, go check out the vendor and welcome fair, take a campus tour and to locate your classes, and get an orientation to the Brock Library. *Don’t forget to register for this orientation at Experience BU.

    You are invited to then also attend the Faculty of Humanities orientation session, beginning at 10:00 a.m. in the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre on Brock’s main campus.

    FIRST-YEAR MIWSFPA MIXER AND LUNCH
    OPEN TO STUDENTS IN ALL DEPARTMENTS AT THE MIWSFPA

    SEPTEMBER 4

    12 TO 1:30 P.M.

    MIWSFPA LOBBY

    DOWNTOWN ST. CATHARINES

    15 ARTISTS’ COMMON


    There will also be a special orientation planned for VISA students specifically, taking place later that week:

    VISUAL ARTS orientation

    Sept. 7:  3 to 4 p.m.
    Marilyn I Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts Lobby
    15 Artists’ Common
    *This will be followed by an opening of Murray Kropf’s new exhibit, Three to Eight, at 4 p.m. in the VISA Gallery

     

    Tags: , , , ,
    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Events, News

  • Moulding a masterpiece

    (From The Brock News, Wednesday, June 20, 2018 | by Alison Innes)

    Brock Visual Arts students have been busy pouring, carving and cutting in preparation for their sculpture exhibition taking place Wednesday, July 4. Angelina Turner, a third-year Concurrent Education student, checks the silicone mould she made for her poured plaster bottle sculpture. Students have been working with cardboard, plaster, soapstone and styrofoam over the course of the semester as they explore the fundamentals of 3D work. They meet from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. twice a week to design, construct and analyze sculptures in VISA2F05 Introduction to Sculpture. Students will be completing a final project in their chosen medium for the class exhibition at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts gallery.

    GLEANERS

    Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts (MIWSFPA)
    VISA GALLERY and Student Exhibition Space

    OPENING RECEPTION: WEDNESDAY, JULY 4: 3PM TO 6PM

    JULY 5 TO 21, THURSDAYS TO SATURDAY: 1-5 PM

    Upcoming exhibition takes a closer look at trash

    What if a cardboard box wasn’t just a box? Or a discarded bottle not a bottle?

    Students at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) hope to challenge our relationship with everyday objects in their upcoming exhibition Gleaners.

    The sculpture class has been gleaning materials from dumpsters and garbage cans to create new works of art with materials that are often used, misused, and taken for granted.

    “We are running out of landfills for our trash, and because of our carelessness, items are wasting in the ground,” says student Angeline Turner.

    “By using mostly found and recycled materials, the artists are making an effort to not only the help the environment but also to show that by thinking outside the box, we can reduce waste.”

    The exhibition opens with a free public reception on July 4, 3-6 p.m. in the VISA Gallery at MIWSFPA and will be available during normal gallery hours July  21.

    Tags: , , ,
    Categories: Current Students, Events, Exhibitions, Faculty & Instructors, News

  • New book explores the art of animal advocacy

    Associate Professor of Visual Arts Keri Cronin examines the role of visual images, such as Edward Landseer’s A Distinguished Member of the Humane Society (exhibited 1838), in animal activism in her new book,  Art for Animals: Visual Culture and Animal Advocacy, 1870-1914.

    (Source: The Brock NewsTuesday, May 22, 2018 | by )

    It was while searching for a set of lantern slides many years ago that Keri Cronin inadvertently found inspiration for her latest book.

    The slides never materialized but what Cronin, an associate professor in Brock’s Department of Visual Arts, did find was an abundance of material on animal advocacy.

    That material has helped to form her latest publication, Art for Animals: Visual Culture and Animal Advocacy, 1870-1914, which explores the use of visual art material in campaigns for animal advocacy.

    Art for Animals cover

    Art for Animals: Visual Culture and Animal Advocacy, 1870-1914 is the latest book by by Associate Professor Keri Cronin.

    Influenced in part by authors who looked at visual culture in other social justice movements, such as suffrage and civil rights, Cronin’s book explores how animal advocacy images were created, circulated and consumed, and the impact that had on ideas about the humane treatment of animals.

    “Visual culture played an important role in defining campaign goals, recruiting membership, raising funds, and, ultimately, sustaining and challenging dominant ideas about nonhuman animals,” writes Cronin.

    Her biggest challenge has been locating archival material to piece together the stories of animal advocacy.

    “For so long, the history of human-animal relationships was not a particularly valued area of research, and archival collections often reflect this,” says Cronin, who hopes the book will lead people to recognize relevant print material they might have in their own collections.

    The cheap, mass-produced pamphlets created and distributed by animal advocacy groups in the late 19th and early 20th century often weren’t considered valuable enough to save.

    The field of animal-human relations, however, has recently seen an explosion of interest both within the University and the broader public. Cronin notes that although her book deals with historical material, many of the key points have relevance for how images are used in animal advocacy today.

    “It is high time we turn our attention to how animals have always been part of our stories, histories, labour and societies,” she says.

    Art for Animals asks us to think about the ways in which visual images can both shape and challenge dominant narratives about non-human animals.”

    A public book launch will be held for Art for Animals on Wednesday, May 23 from 4 to 6 p.m. at Mahtay Café, 241 St. Paul St. in St. Catharines.

    Tags: , , ,
    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, Media Releases, News

  • Students exhibit at Die Bäckerei in Innsbruck, Austria UPDATED

    We are very excited to announce an exhibition by the students of the MIWSFPA in Innsbruck, Austria!

    see photographs from the exhibition, below.

    Geographies of Process

    presented at …

    Die Baeckerei

    13 June – 6 July 2018 (Opening 13 June 2018, 19:00)

    Learning is process. Students in Visual Arts at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Brock University, Canada put together a series of paintings to illustrate the process of abstraction at work in referencing urban, industrial, domestic, and natural landscapes. Students in Arts and Culture and French Studies continue the process of abstraction through the creation of written texts responding to their peers’ paintings.

    Curators: Catherine Parayre and Shawn Serfas

    With the generous support of the Canadian Studies Centre, University of Innsbruck

    Geographien als Prozess

    Lernen ist ein Prozess. Studierende der bildenden Kunst der Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts an der Brock University (Kanada) haben eine Reihe von Bildern zusammengestellt, um den Prozess des Abstrahierens zu illustrieren, der abläuft, wenn auf städtische, industrielle, häusliche und natürliche Landschaften Bezug genommen wird. Studierende der Fächer Kunst, Kultur und Französisch setzen diesen Prozess fort, indem sie Texte verfassen, die auf die Bilder ihrer KollegInnen
    reagieren.

    KuratorIn: Catherine Parayre und Shawn Serfas (Brock University)

    Eröffnung: 13. Juni 2018, 19:00 Uhr

    13. Juni – 6. Juli 2018
    Bäckerei Innsbruck, Dreiheiligenstraße 21a, 6020 Innsbruck

    Geographien als Prozess / Geographies of Process / Géographies en formation

    Lernen ist ein Prozess. Studierende der bildenden Kunst der Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts an der Brock University (Kanada) haben ein Reihe von Bildern zusammengestellt, um den Prozess des Abstrahierens zu illustrieren, der abläuft, wenn auf städtische, industrielle, häusliche und natürliche Landschaften Bezug genommen wird. Studierende der Fächer Kunst, Kultur und Französisch setzen diesen Prozess fort, indem sie Texte verfassen, die auf die Bilder ihrer KollegInnen reagieren.

    Learning is process. Students in Visual Arts at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Brock University, Canada put together a series of paintings to illustrate the process of abstraction at work in referencing urban, industrial, domestic, and natural landscapes. Students in Arts and Culture and French Studies continue the process of abstraction through the creation of written texts responding to their peers’ paintings.

    Tout apprentissage est un processus. Des étudiant.e.s en Arts visuels de l’Ecole des beaux-arts et arts du spectacle Marilyn I. Walker à l’Université Brock au Canada assemblent une série de peintures illustrant un processus d’abstraction faisant référence à des paysages urbains, industriels, domestiques et naturels. Poursuivant cet enchainement vers l’abstraction, des étudiant.e.s d’Arts et Culture et d’Etudes en français répondent aux œuvres de leurs collègues par la création de textes.

    KuratorIn / Curators / Commissaires: Catherine Parayre / Shawn Serfas

    Mit der Unterstützung des Zentrums für Kanadastudien der Universität Innsbruck
    With the generous support of the Canadian Studies Centre, University of Innsbruck
    Avec le généreux appui du Centre d’Etudes canadiennes de l’Université d’Innsbruck

    KünstlerIn / Artists / Artistes

    Gianna Aceto
    Jessica Angelevski
    Elizabeth Angotti
    Denise Apostolatos
    Teresa Badgley
    Renz Baluyot
    Chris Belanger
    Marilyn Blanchette
    Brandon Boudreau
    Hannah Brown
    Andrea Caruso
    Maddy Cugini
    Thomas Denton
    Chelsea Dietrich
    Amy Doan
    Hannah Dobbie
    Isabella Domaradski
    Mariah Dubeau
    Amandine Faivre
    Alex Finlayson
    Dailia Frigault
    Jill Greer
    Stefanie Gugliucciello
    Kylie Haveron
    Gail Higenell
    Samantha Hilton
    Aimee Hu
    Syerra Jasmin
    Gabriella Jones
    Phuong Le
    Laura Levesque
    Brendan Long
    Craig Maltais
    Sarah Martin
    Jim Maunder
    Katie McGinness
    Kaitlyn Michie
    Avery Mikolic-O’Rourke
    Andrey Mintchev
    Jennie Montes
    Victoria Morinello
    Jaclyn Morse
    Lauren Mucciarone
    Michelle Nazari
    Alona Nyforovska
    Joseph Opara
    Lillianna Pagliaro
    Connor Playfair
    Anna Podvalni
    Jacob Primeau
    Brittany Reitzel
    Curt Richard
    Jessie Richard
    Cynthia Richards
    Keira Robertson-Worden
    Abby Rollo
    Kourtney Spadoni
    Samantha Stein
    Sophia Strachan
    Charlotte Tarr
    Evan Weins
    Zachary White
    Amber Lee Williams

    LISTEN to an interview (in German) by Sarah von Karger with Co-Curator Catherine Parayre for “KulturTon”, Freirad Radio, Innsbruck, Austria, 2 Juli 2018

    Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
    Categories: Current Students, Events, Exhibitions, Faculty & Instructors, News

  • New for 2018: the Marilyn I. Walker Textile Art Award

    Beginning in 2018 the Executive of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts will be awarding the Marilyn I. Walker Textile Art Award.

    This award will be made to an undergraduate student who is graduating from the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA), Brock University; who is awarded, by vote of the Executive Committee of the MIWSPFA, the top prize for a piece of textile art produced and submitted by said student.

    As the award must be granted to a student for the purposes of his or her continuing education and or development, students must also submit an expression of their intention to continue this education and or development.

    For the purposes of this award, textile art is defined as a work of art that utilizes any and all forms of textiles, either natural or man-made, and in any form of original artistic expression.

    For the purposes of this award, continuing education or development is defined as any form of post graduate education and development which the student may wish to pursue whether at a college, university, by way of apprenticeship at a technical institute or at a research facility.

    For more information about Marilyn I. Walker see: brocku.ca/miwsfpa/marilyn-i-walker

    We thank Marilyn I. Walker and her estate for the legacy of her generosity.

    See the article about the first recipient of the new award, Victoria Reid (Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Studio Art, with First-Class Standing, 2018).

    Tags: , , ,
    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, News

  • Brock faculty, staff, students and grads performing at In the Soil

    (Source: The Brock News | Wednesday, April 25, 2018 by Alison Innes)

    It’s a festival born out of love for the local community and the arts.

    In the Soil, the three-day, multi-layered and multi-disciplinary festival in St. Catharines, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this weekend, and Brock has played an important role in its growth.

    The festival started as an idea sparked at a Centre for the Arts performance in Sean O’Sullivan Theatre, where Annie Wilson (BA’03), Joe Lapinski (BA’99) and Sara Palmieri (BA ’03) wondered how they help showcase Niagara talent. Three more former Brock students came on board to found the festival in 2009: Deanna Jones (BA ’02), Natasha Pedros (BA ’04) and Jordy Yack.

    They wanted to bring people together with local artists to create a shared experience and celebrate Niagara’s arts scene.

    Brock’s support of In the Soil has been important from the start, says Wilson, who studied Theatre and English.

    “To have the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts right in the downtown core is a dream come true and so is the opportunity to collaborate with so many incredible profs and friends over there,” says Wilson. “Brock University has supported In the Soil Arts Festival from day one and the ongoing investment in us has allowed us to grow it into what it is today.”

    Suitcase in Point Theatre Company, a theatre group founded by graduates from Brock’s Dramatic Arts program, took over organizing the festival in 2012. The group worked to sharpen the festival’s interdisciplinary approach and now has a tradition of showcasing the latest work in theatre, literature, music, film, comedy and site-specific installations.

    Many Brock students, staff, faculty, and grads are exhibiting and performing at this year’s festival in various venues around the downtown core, including:

    • Adrian Thiessen (BA ’10), president and creative head of Fourgrounds Media, will be showing his piece “Please Do Not Disturb the Grapes,” which gives a bird’s perspective of Niagara wine country as part of Rhizomes at Silver Spire United Church.
    • We Who Know Nothing, a theatre group centred in the Department of Dramatic Arts and led by Associate Professor Gillian Raby, will be performing a short piece on colonialism and First Nations histories.
    • Also at Rhizomes, Twitches & Itches Theatre, an ensemble made up largely of Dramatic Arts graduates, will be presenting emerging theatre voices in “The Comments Section,” a collaboration between young artists.
    • Arnie McBay (MA ’13), Visual Arts Facilities Technician at MIWSFPA, and English Professor Gregory Betts will be showing “Signs of Our Discontent” (The Textures of Our Solitude). The site-specific installation at the corner of St. Paul and Garden Park responds to the fading advertisements painted on downtown buildings.
    • Fourth-year Visual Arts student Amber Lee Williams video performance “Self Portrait As A Female Fountain” explores themes of identity and is an extension of her exhibition “Hidden Mother” on until Saturday, April 28 at the MIWSFPA.
    • Dramatic Arts student Matthew Beard is the founder of Big Chicken Improv, an improv group that includes various Brock students. They will be performing long- and short-form improv on Saturday evening.

    Prior to the festival, the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts will be hosting a special event on the evening of April 27 for students from Stamford Collegiate.
    The MIWSFPA is also a festival sponsor.

    What: In the Soil Arts Festival

    When: Friday, April 27 to Sunday, April 29

    Where: Downtown St. Catharines

    Tickets and event details: inthesoil.on.ca

    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    Categories: Alumni, Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News

  • Rodman Hall hosts Visual Arts honours exhibitions

    The opening reception for the first instalment of the honours exhibitions on Friday, March 23 drew a large crowd to Rodman Hall Art Centre. Photo: Danny Custodio.

    Graduating students from the Honours Studio course (VISA 4F06) have been busy all semester creating their pieces for the two-part Brock University Department of Visual Arts Honours Exhibition. Students were mentored by Rodman Hall Art Centre gallery staff and Visual Arts Professors Donna Szoke, Shawn Serfas, Derek Knight, and Donna Akrey.

    The first instalment of the honours exhibition: Just Resting My Eyes is currently on display at the Rodman Hall Art Centre (109 St. Paul Crescent). The current exhibition features work from students: Denise Apostolatos, Victoria Morinello, Jill Newman, Jacob Primeau, and Aaron Thompson.

    These honours exhibitions are vital to students’ education in the Brock Visual Arts program because “the nature, purpose and intended outcome of Honours Studio is that once the students graduate from the art program, they become practicing artists. Art making, as a practice of research-creation, is inherently experiential learning” says Szoke.

    The collaboration with the professional team of the Rodman Hall Art Centre is a essential learning experience for Brock Visual Arts students. Akrey says the Rodman Hall staff’s “consultation with each student teaches them the importance of the entire process of art making and exhibiting, and the importance of their individual work in a collaborative event.” Serfas adds that the importance of having Rodman Hall embedded into the Bachelor of Arts program is that “it gives our students a distinctive experiential learning opportunity.”

    Knight says that the audience can expect to see “broad cultural themes with emphasis on the impact of mass media, environmental or social issues” throughout the work created by these honours students in this two-part exhibit.

    The second instalment, Turnin’ This Car Around, is set to be exhibited from Saturday, April 14 to Sunday, April 29, with the opening reception on Friday, April 13 from 7 to 9 p.m. This upcoming exhibit will feature pieces by Rachel Dove, Lauren Mucciarone, Victoria Reid, Brittany Thomas-Clapp, and Lorraine Zandvliet.

    Photographs from the exhibition have been posted to an online gallery.

    For more information about Rodman Hall Art Centre and their programs see brocku.ca/rodman-hall


    see the article by John Law in the St.Catharines Standard: Brock’s top art students gather for one last show

    see the video report by Stephen Parr for YourTV Niagara

    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    Categories: 4F06 Honours Exhibition, Current Students, Events, In the Media, News

  • Three exhibits this week for Visual Arts

    This is a busy week for exhibitions under Brock’s Department of Visual Arts (VISA).

    From April 2 to 6, students in the VISA department are presenting three exhibitions: CORESITE-SEER, and (un)hidden.

    Now open in the Rodman Hall Art Centre is the exhibit CORE. VISA students will have their smaller works in Rodman Hall’s Flex Space, which will be imagined as a larger site and a centre from where the work branches out to the other destinations in the show. CORE is open to view at Rodman Hall from now until April 13. Gallery hours can be found on their website and admission is by donation, but free for members and students.

    When visiting Rodman Hall, be sure to see the Brock University Department of Visual Arts Honours Exhibition: just resting my eyes, on display until April 8.

    The second exhibit, SITE-SEER, is an extension of the first. SITE-SEER is a one-night exhibition being held Wednesday, April 4 from 4 to 9 p.m., where the downtown area of St. Catharines will serve as gallery space. Students from Donna Akrey’s Advanced Art Practices course are taking their creations from the CORE exhibit and dispersing them throughout downtown St. Catharines in hopes that their pieces will lure locals into seeing sites in a new way.

    Participating artists for both CORE and SITE-SEER include: Hani Ahmed, Jess Angelevski, Teresa Badgley, Jessica Bradley, Tom Denton, Isabella Domaradzki, Kylie Haveron, Emma Hutchison-Hounsell, Laura Levesque, Avery Mikolic-O’Rourke, Amanda Misale, Anna Podvalni, Victoria Reid, Kourtney Spadoni and Desiree Veino.

    Maps with more information about the artworks, their locations and times will be available at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts on Wednesday night when SITE-SEER is held.

    Change, a contemporary exploration of Hidden Mother photography. One of many polaroid emulsion lifts featured in the upcoming show (un)hidden by Amber Lee Williams.

    Change, a contemporary exploration of Hidden Mother photography. One of many polaroid emulsion lifts featured in the upcoming show (un)hidden by Amber Lee Williams.

    A third show, (un)hidden by Brock Visual Arts student Amber Lee Williams, opens in the Visual Arts Exhibition Space ofthe MIWSFPA on Thursday, April 5 with a reception from 5 to 9 p.m. Williams is both a student and a mother of two, who gave birth to her second child while preparing for this exhibit. She is now in the process of installing her show while carrying her two-month-old baby in a sling.

    In the (un)hidden exhibit, Williams presents photographs, sculptures and installations investigating motherhood, relationships within the family and loss. (un)hidden will be open at the MIWSFPA until Saturday, April 28. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m.

    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    Categories: 4F06 Honours Exhibition, Current Students, Events, Exhibitions, Faculty & Instructors, In the Media, News

  • Art exhibit receptions to mark International Women’s Day

    The opening reception of “Silent Areas: The Spaces in Between,” Cat Stambolic and Sarah Martin, takes place Thursday, March 8 at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    Brock’s arts community will mark International Women’s Day on Thursday, March 8 with two art exhibition receptions.

    On display at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts Visual Arts Gallery and student exhibition space, “Silent Areas: The Spaces in Between” features the work of third-year Visual Arts student Sarah Martin and recent Brock Visual Arts graduate Cat Stambolic (BA ’17).

    The exhibition, which initially opened Feb. 15 and runs until Saturday, March 24, explores the disconnect between mind and body, deemed ‘silent areas.’

    Exploring the theme separately through their previous work, the pair came together to create the exhibit, which investigates “connections between mind and body; specifically, what happens if and when that connection is interrupted,” explained Stambolic.

    Both women are strong advocates of mental health.

    “Our work hangs in conversation with each other’s,” Stambolic said, and is “truly representative of the open dialogue we need to create regarding mental illness.”

    Her work featured in the show is directly related to her own sensory experiences, which resulted in feeling a disconnect from her physical body.

    “The process of making these pieces was a way to resolve these sensations and emotions, re-envisioning them as tangible sculptures,” she said.

    Martin uses her photographs to create visual representation of “restlessness and unconsciousness, how feelings of anxiety can create out-of-body experiences and feelings of existentialism.”

    Her work in this exhibit depicts women exclusively in order to “refocus the narrative of women creating work featuring women, instead of from a male perspective,” she said. “Using the female figure in a powerful way reclaims ownership of the female body and creates a new narrative of empowerment and self-reflection.”

    Both artists will be at the exhibition’s reception to discuss their work on Thursday, March 8 from 5 to 8 p.m.

    Also that evening, from 6 to 8 p.m., is the opening reception of “Expressions of Today/Expressions d’aujourd’hui” at the Niagara Arts Centre, 354 St. Paul St.

    Featuring work from Brock’s Studies in Arts and Culture, and French Studies students, the exhibit explores contemporary expressions in art and literature, with pieces creating unusual stories mixing narrative and art-making.

    “Expressions of Today/Expressions d’aujourd’hui” will be on display at the NAC until Friday, March 16.

    For information on upcoming events, visit the MIWSFPA website.

    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    Categories: Alumni, Current Students, Events, Exhibitions, In the Media, News