REVERIE
KIRBY BRIANNA PRINCE TOBIN
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On front: “The View” photocollage, 2014
REVERIE
A comprehensive look at the works and practice of
Kirby-Brianna Prince Tobin September 2011 through December 2014
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CONTENTS 7 11 43 49
Introduction Works Interview with the Artist Curriculum Vitae
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Introduction
I was born and raised in Southern Ontario, but my family has deep roots in the East Coast of Newfoundland. I spent every summer of my childhood exploring the beautiful land, catching frogs, fishing in the brooks, and hearing the many stories of my family’s history in that same area. I’ve always felt a strong connection to that place, however in recent years I have begun to acknowledge its fundamental importance not only to my identity but also to my development as an artist. This heritage has profoundly influenced my work, not only the cultural associations but also the visual attraction to the imagery of the landscape. It is important to note that my interpretation of the land and my representation of the imagery of Newfoundland are not entirely first hand. I have experienced, written about and photographed the land myself, but my perception of my family’s history and their relationship with the land is largely informed by the stories and memories that have been shared and passed down by word of mouth by my extended family. The history and culture as I know it is largely through the eyes of my
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family. In that sense, I admit to having a bias; an ideal and romanticized interpretation of Newfoundland. Whilst I acknowledge this bias perspective, the way that I see, observe and Interpret this information is still uniquely my own. It is different from my whole family, different from other Newfoundland residents, or even different from my potential viewers. I acknowledge this bias and often use it to my advantage to create surreal, romanticised imagery with a skewed perception of space and narrative. . My art is extremely personal, and is a product of my intuition, my thoughts and feelings, my memories my own experiences, my interactions with others and the world around me. My thoughts and memories, and the shapes, colours and presence of my surroundings (be that personal, natural, and industrial) influence the imagery present in my work. I believe memory is synced with sensory experiences; for me, sight, smell, sound, taste and touch are interconnected with nostalgia, an essential influence in my art making process. My fascination with memory and nostalgia is partially driven by a certain level of fear; fear of losing touch, with forgetting and not being able to recall my experiences through the less tangible means of memory. I have a fascination with the ideal, the wishful and the imaginary. This inclination drives a lot of my aesthetic. I am enticed by illusion, and the sense of being emerged and overwhelmed by an experience. Once again this fascination is also motivated by a slight fear of the lack of control one would experience while being emerged in such a state. Finally, another large motivating influence in my work is nature, specifically the landscape of the
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eastern coast of Newfoundland. However natural organisms such as fungi, waters, topographic maps of regions, and foliage influence a lot of the imagery that can be found in my work, and often in my detailed line work. Art is an extremely personal, visual means of expressing yourself. This statement is accurate when describing my process of creation. I make art for me, as a release and as an experience. Everyone that views my work will take something from what I create, and it may be slightly different than what I intended, but that is okay. My end goal with my audience is to evoke a feeling, an emotional or physical reaction, and to awaken their spirit. I make art so that it will visually impact my audience in some way, even if it just to engage them in observation of the colour, pattern and surface quality of my work. In my work I continue to develop and consider new ways to explore this theme of Newfoundland, my family and my own memory of it. I play with representation and abstraction of space, the balance between foreground and background, and I encourage the viewer to question the levels and layers of what they see whilst expressing these ideas of home, culture, and my interpretation of the land. My imagery wades back and forth between representation and abstraction with strong colour and vivid texture to entice the viewer’s eyes and link the different works. I combine aspects of painting and printmaking, experimenting in a variety of ways; on different surfaces, at different scales, adding stencils, blocking out some areas and focussing on others, incorporating mixed media and creating intentionally
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fragmented compositions. There is no exact way to explain my process because it is so intuitive. I make a lot of decisions on composition, colour and line work in the moment as I go, letting each decision and step of the process further confirm and inform my greater concept. The assortment of media I work with gives me a variety of outlets to experiment working on different visual means of conveying my themes. Two and three-dimensional works work together to communicate to my viewer the feelings of nostalgia, sublime, illusion and awe. I wish to entice my viewer in a landscape that is represented in a slightly abstract way, communicating ideas of perception and questioning the truth in an image.
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WORKS
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TOPOGRAPHIC SERIES 1, 2014; Mixed Media (Silkscreen, india ink, graphite and photocollage)
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TOPOGRAPHIC SERIES 1 (detail), 2014; Mixed Media (Silkscreen, india ink, graphite and photocollage)
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TOPOGRAPHIC SERIES 2, 2014; Mixed Media (Silkscreen, india ink, graphite and photocollage)
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TOPOGRAPHIC SERIES 2 (detail), 2014; Mixed Media (Silkscreen, india ink, graphite and photocollage)
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TOPOGRAPHIC SERIES 3, 2014; Mixed Media (Silkscreen, india ink, graphite and photocollage)
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TOPOGRAPHIC SERIES 3 (detail), 2014; Mixed Media (Silkscreen, india ink, graphite and photocollage)
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SEABREEZE 1(Circle Series), 2013; Photolithography, Watercolour, India Ink
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SEABREEZE 2 (Circle Series), 2013; Photolithography, Watercolour, India Ink
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FLATBOTTOM (Circle Series), 2013; Photolithography, Watercolour, India Ink
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THE BAY (Circle Series), 2013; Photolithography, Watercolour, India Ink
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VIEW THROUGH THE TREES (Circle Series), 2013; Photolithography, Watercolour, India Ink
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BROOK 1 (Second Circle Series), 2014; Collaged Woodcut Print
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WEEDS (Second Circle Series), 2014; Collaged Woodcut Print
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BROOK 2 (Second Circle Series), 2014; Collaged Woodcut Print
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POND SCUM, 2013; Acrylic and India Ink on Canvas
THE BAY, 2014; Acrylic and India Ink on Canvas
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UNTITLED (detail), 2014; Collagraph
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VIEW FROM SIGNAL HILL 2, 2014; Woodcut on Stonehenge
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JACK-O’-LANTERNS IN THE MARSH 1, 2013; Lithograph
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JACK-O’-LANTERNS IN THE MARSH 2, 2013; Lithograph
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PULP LANDSCAPES, 2012; Recycled Paper Pulp and Dyes
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PULP LANDSCAPES (details), 2012; Recycled Paper Pulp and Dyes
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SHERWINK TRAIL 2 ( Cut Landscape Series), 2014; Collaged Woodcut Print
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CUT LANDSCAPE SERIES (details), 2014; Woodblock on Summerset
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PEAKS, 2014; Collaged Woodcut Print
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BLUE BAY, 2014; Collaged Woodcut Print
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MOONSCAPE 1 2014; Collaged Woodcut Print
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MOONSCAPE 2, 2014; Collaged Woodcut Print
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UNTITLED 1, 2014; Collaged Woodcut Print
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UNTITLED 2, 2014; Collaged Woodcut Print
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AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ARTIST (with collaborator Adam Moniz)
Q: How long have you been working as an artist? A: I have been interested in making art for as long as I can remember. This might seem like a cliché answer, but my parents were always very supportive of my creativity as a child; every road trip was accompanied by stocks of different coloured paper and a variety of drawing materials. I loved to draw still lives, portraits, and anything around me. As I got older, I developed an interest in painting. The texture and body of the actual paint, and the way I could manipulate the material was an instant magnet. I painted for many years without thinking about why, or whether or not I considered myself an artist. I just painted. For a long time I wasn’t exceedingly confident in myself and my work. It wasn’t until fairly recent that I really began to consider myself an artist. When my practice became more fluid, and uniquely informed and motivated, that is when I feel I started practicing as a true artist. Q: Do you have a preferred medium (or mediums) in which you create art? Is that reflective of the ability to better express your art, or just a preference in technique? A: My work combines aspects of both painting and printmaking. I’ve always had a love of painting, despite most of my current work resolving in printmaking, I think there is a definite relation between the two mediums. What I like most about painting is the tactile quality and body of paints. Being able to physically manipulate the material, push and pull the medium around the surface with my brush, and having almost absolute control in the outcome are technical qualities I enjoy. I also really enjoy the immediacy of painting, and I find it most appropriate for pure expression and quick gestural works. When it comes to print, the process is far more laborious and timesensitive. It requires a fair bit of planning and experimentation to achieve a desirable outcome; it is a lot of hurry up and wait, and the outcome is often unpredictable. My approach to printmaking is far more methodical and contemplative, but equally as satisfactory. I enjoy these proesses for their formal appeal, but I also belive they lend themselves better to communicating my specfiic aesthetic.
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Q: Was the theme of Newfoundland (and related topics) an active thought while creating the pieces of art, or was it more of a realization in seeing the completed works? A: The theme of Newfoundland was an active thought going into this series; many of the formal decisions I made throughout the process regarding compositions, colours, and forms were intentional to reflect these concepts of culture, home, and nostalgia. That being said, some of the motifs that emerged from the series (such as detailed line work that references topographic maps, organic forms that reference water and foliage) was an intuitive choice I made mid-process, that upon later reflection I realised had a lot of significance and relationship to the greater theme of landscape. Q: Can you describe the thought process and inspirations you experienced that lead you to develop this current body of work? A: At the beginning of my third year in university, I started reflecting back on my influences, and one that was essential to who I’ve become is my family and our history in Newfoundland. I spent every summer growing up exploring the land, catching frogs, fishing in the brooks, and immersing myself in the culture. I started making connections about how I admired organic forms, fluidity, cool colours and space, and how this related to my attraction to the landscape of Newfoundland; the rock, the trees, and the water. I also I thought about how my memories of this culture and history were quite bias because a lot of what I knew and thought about this place, this “home�, was passed down to me through stories from my family members. I then decided I wanted to interpret this land and history through my own terms. I decided I would use the landscape of Newfoundland, these forms and these themes to communicate the questions and concerns I had about perception, about essential truths in our own histories, and how I relate to my family.
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Q: You described that you are very susceptible to influence, and that your “experiences, interactions with others, thoughts and memories, and the shapes, colours and presence of my surroundings (be that personal, natural, and industrial)” influence the imagery present in your work. How is this relationship to your environments present in this current body of work? What is the relation to memory and nostalgia for you? A: My ongoing concept for the past two years has been, for the most part, trying to discover my own connection to my family’s history in Newfoundland. There is an established history and culture there into which my family fits, yet I am trying to establish my own place. I’ve always felt a strong connection to this other home and landscape, having been enticed by the images of rolling hills, monumental cliffs, repeating foliage, and relation of rock to water. These are all things I have observed and encountered throughout my lifetime, and I think even in my early work you can see visual ties to this. My past experiences with the land, and hearing of my family’s history has impacted my interpretation of this land and the imagery I use (the colour pallet and motifs) has progressed into my ideal and romanticized interpretation of Newfoundland. My fascination with memory and nostalgia is partially driven by a certain level of fear; fear of losing touch, with forgetting and not being able to recall my experiences through the less tangible means of memory. I have a fascination with the ideal, the wishful and the imaginary. This inclination drives a lot of my aesthetic. Q: When I look at art, I immediately think of things as “abstract” or “not abstract”, and usually form opinions from there. I found it interesting that the idea of abstract art isn’t something you explicitly mentioned a lot in your statement. Do you feel your work falls under the idea of abstract art? How do you feel about the term in general? A: The term Abstract is very broad, with a lot of historical context and weight to it. As much as we want to systemize art, I think it is hard to place works in a category of either “abstract” or “not abstract” Abstraction exists along a spectrum and there are many facets of abstraction, from figurative abstraction to complete non-representation. I think even the most realistically rendered artworks are abstract to some degree, because theoretically, as humans we are not objectively representing something; we are representing it from our own unique perspective and are thus, abstracting it.
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That being said, I do feel as though my work falls under the larger context of abstraction, specifically I characterize it with the statement, “Abstraction from Observation”. Every form and shape used in my imagery is, to some extent, intentionally representative of a real life experience or object. It is then through my process that I edit and manipulate these shapes in a way that results in the abstract compositions and forms seen in my work. For me, despite being abstracted there is still an association that can be made between each form and a tangible, representative object, place, or idea (for example, topographic maps, algae or foliage). I do not attempted to faithfully represent reality, but rather to faithfully represent a feeling or a spirit of that reality. Nonrepresentational works have a power and presence that have always resonated with me, and my admiration of this style is reflected in my personal work. Q: How do you decide when and when not to use detailed line work? A: It is very difficult to explain my process, because at its root is a give and take of the order behind planning and the spontaneity of my intuition. Most times I do set out with a rough plan. This could be the starting point of a reference photo or drawing. From there I make a lot of decisions on composition, colour and line work in the moment as I go, letting each decision and step of the process further confirm and inform my greater outcome. Most often what happens is I will take note of the forms and imagery that is emerging, and access weather or not I want to accentuate a certain area, or create a visual emphasis using movement, in which case I will employ the detailed line work as a means of creating this focal point and rhythm. Q: Do you have a favourite piece/set of pieces? Why or why not? A: That is a hard question, because I am proud of this entire body of work as a whole. I think each work actively reflects the greater concepts, but addresses it in a unique and playful way. If I had to choose a favourite it would be my mixed media “Topographic Series” prints. These prints are a perfect balance of experimentation with material and process, in a way that reflects my ideas; a starting point for the methodologies I continue to employ in my current works. They incorporate elements of silk screen printmaking, photographic transfers and drawing in a unified composition that speaks a lot to my aesthetic and themes
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CURRICULUM VITAE
17 VALLEY WOOD DR. • WHITBY, ONTARIO • L1R2J8 905 962 8246 • TOBINKB@MCMASTER.CA
KIRBY TOBIN SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS o o
Working Knowledge in a variety of Microsoft and Adobe programs (Word, Excel, Photoshop, etc.) Experience and special interest in Printmaking, Painting, Woodwork, and Multimedia (Photoshop, Film, ect.)
EDUCATION BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS | ONGOING | MCMASTER UNIVERSITY o Major: Studio Art o Minor: Art History o Dean’s Honours List Student o Queen Elizabeth Aiming for the Top Academic Scholarship o McMaster University Senate Scholarship Recipient WORK EXPERIENCE PRINT STUDIO MONITOR | MCMASTER UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF THE ARTS| SEPTEMBER 2013-PRESENT o Organized and Maintained the function and safety of the Print Studios at McMaster University o Served as an Academic Resource for other students with regards to printmaking processes and artwork o Problem-solved any technical issues that arose with printmaking machinery and studio spaces
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EXHIBITION EXPERIENCE o
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“Polyvocal: Silent Auction” Auction Fundraiser (treasurer), The New Space at McMaster Univesity, November 2011 “Naturally Connected” Juried Exhibition, The New Space at McMaster University, March 2014 “Nashville Print Revival” International Print Showcase, Two Tone Gallery (Murfreesboro Tennessee) “Reverie” Group Exhibition, The New Space at McMaster University, February-March 2014 “Touchstone” Group Exhibition, The New Space at McMaster University, December 2013 “En Plein Air” Group Exhibition, The New Space at McMaster University, September 2013 “Alexandra’s Travelling Bauhaus” Group Presentation, The New Space at McMaster University, March 2013 “Mapping Paradise” Group Environmental Art Initiative, The New Space at McMaster University, February 2013 “The Hamilton Drawing Project” Group Exhibition, James Street N. Toyota, Hamilton, January 2013 “Art Beat” Student Art Show, Focus Gallery Hamilton, November 2012 “A First Work” Group Exhibition, The New Space at McMaster Univesity, November 2011
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Hand-bound and limited edition made using Adobe InDesign and Photoshop featuring Baskerville, Lao UI and Garamond fonts. All photographs are courtesy of the artist, and may not be reproduced without permission of the artist.
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