How Do You Sleep With Yourself by UBC AHVA

how do you sleep with yourself?

Forward

ow Do You Sleep With Yourself is an exhibition featuring the University of British Columbia’s 2011 graduating BFA/BA Visual Art students’ current work. The exhibition showcases these students’ commitment to art practice and diverse critical thinking which are essential to today’s contemporary art. Individual artistic practice involves strategies to combat all kinds of orthodoxies, classifications or chauvinisms of the mind. Through variations of everyday imagery or language, artists create their own space within larger social and cultural discourses. The union of theory and practice engenders art which surpasses the boundaries of its origins. Within a global cultural context, the vocabulary of contemporary art does not arise from one culture or homogenous source; it springs from a myriad of sources that produce meaning in art. I would like to thank Deana Holmes, the Fourth Year Graduation Exhibition Student Committee, Phillip McCrum, and the fourth-year studio faculty members for coordinating the exhibition and catalogue. I am especially grateful to Athena Papadopoulos, Claire Sproule, and Karen Tennant for their hard work on our successful fundraising party. Without their dedication, this exhibition would not be possible. I would also like to thank Ashleen Rider and

Graeme Fisher for their insightful essay, and our designer Brendan Albano, for his intelligent work on the exhibition catalogue and posters. Finally, this exhibition is undertaken with the indispensible support of Dr. Catherine Soussloff and the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory, University of British Columbia; their assistance is very much appreciated. We are also grateful for the generous contributions made by the Canadian Foundation of Asian Art and the Visual Art Students’ Association toward this exhibition. Gu Xiong Associate Professor Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory University of British Columbia

Introduction Ashleen Rider + Graeme Fisher

e graduate in a time of great uncertainty. The title of the exhibition was borne of a classroom joke. And, as with all jokes, it is deadly serious. We hope that it throws into relief the libidinal drive with which we strive to make art politically. To that effect, it hints at the violence, intellectual masturbation, insomnia and spectral haunting that our art engenders. In this time of terminal crisis, it is important to ask a few questions: What practices can be pursued that dispel the commodity-form of art objects? To what extent am I complicit with so-called ‘cultural’ imperialism? How does one negotiate success without being subsumed by spectacle? What forms can escape the hermetic art world without being reduced to a farce of ‘accessibility’? We respond with a question: What is the function of the University as an institution? Often, it appears little more than an apparatus for ensuring quality control, stamping its seal of approval with a degree. At worst, it is perceived as a massive development scheme, with luxury condos crowding out the students. During our time as students at this university, we have witnessed the disappearance of free education in Europe with the Bologna process, the 32% tuition increase state-wide in California, and the complicity of SFU’s visual art program with the massive Woodward’s gentrification project, as well as the colonial violence of GoldCorp. Does the capacity of the University for social

regression know no bounds? Even a cursory glance at UBC reveals a similar deterioration, where the pursuit of capital triumphs over thought. We see the rapid redevelopment of the South Campus, endless endowment growth, and yearly tuition increases. Judging by the reception of one student’s transgressive manifesto on the side of the BC Binnings building, the administration is more concerned with the sheen of its edifices than with the ideas of the students within them. If UBC has taught us anything, it is to question the establishment. In What is Contemporary Art?, Terry Smith deems the current artistic climate full of “provocative testers, doubt-filled gestures, equivocal objects, tentative projections, diffident propositions, or hopeful anticipations.” This apprehensive interrogation of the “ontology of the present” is perhaps the only thing contemporary art seems to share. Recalling Hal Foster’s writing on the nonsynchronous – an existence that breaks from historical or logical trajectory, yet without the violence of a rupture – is the founding premise of the contemporary moment. Our time is neurotic, continually shedding its past but trapped in a futureless present. A joke without a punchline. Likewise, there are no formal or conceptual trends to distinguish the art being produced in our graduating class. We are formed by contemporaneity’s liminal state, suspended in oscillation, and seeking to break free from an institutional modern canon and postmodernist depoliticization. This dilemma threatens paralysis to the artist who still seeks to create. Yet, we have forged novel political forms that endeavour to supersede these questions of the contemporary period.

the life of the student and of the artist. They are concerned with the elaboration of local forms. 4. Lastly, some directly resist art market neutralization through the production of various kinds of illegibility. They generate forms which resist categorization, and might slip unnoticed into institutional space before they detonate. Over this past year our ability to work in solidarity has grown incredibly. We have learned of our collective ‘response-ability’ to the situation. We have learned to subtract ourselves from the reproduction of systems of thought that reduce us and our artwork to simply commodities, simply students to be pushed through our ‘education.’ Such reductions have no place in our thought, for we have learned of what we are capable of, which is nothing short of infinite.

Briefly surveying the practices of the graduating class, we can discern a few dominant strategies central to addressing this problematic: 1. Some demonstrate a heightened awareness of natural and virtual resources which indicates a trend towards the foregrounding of materials – and, in fact, their subsequent dematerialization and decodification. 2. Many dissect the colonial project integral to the settlement of BC and the subject positions it has created. By relating their personal histories to global narratives, they explore the function of the concepts of race, memory, or family in the webs of capital. Further, through subversive and poetic acts they produce new positions and names to occupy in the contemporary moment. 3. Others focus on molecular textures by exploring the theatricality and sociabilities of

Artist statements 5 6 8 10 12 14 16 17 18 20 22 23 24 26 28

Karen Tennant Joy Inae Kim Amy EunJoo Chung Mia Mushinski Angela Wu Yoriko Gillard Anna Karin Tidlund Avery Bedford Alison Lau Ashleer Rider Alvis Chu Lisa Leu Athena Papadopoulos Carrie McKay Brenda Mattman

30 32 34 35 36 38 40 41 42 44 46 48 50 51 52

Claire Sproule Brendan Albano Graeme Fisher Kavin Ni Eric McKinnon Hope La Farge Jonathan Lee Alisha Pelton Jessica Pang Julie Wong Annie Hong Joo Eun Lee Joyce Tsang Crystal Ho Kate Finch 4

54 56 58 59 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80

Kate Nadeau Laura Reitenbach Keith Morrison Jocelyn Chan Leonardo Chan Leah Tan Monica ChiHea Hwang Lindsay Butler Nicholas Cheng Muraco Hranchuk Samson Tam Stephanie Chang Shelley Fearnley Tony Lu Olga Rybalko

Karen Tennant Edited by Karen Tennant ((delete 02/18/11) revision delete 02/27/11). In which it (delete 02/20/11)(02/16/11), as a fluctuating exercise in artist subject-making will be published and absorbed as (delete word 02/18/11) fact into the ambivalent insular audience (delete 02/27/11(02/16/11/ 02/27/11).(line deleted 02/16/11). oscillates( word change 02/20/11) enthusiastic production and critical disenfranchisement of artistic and therefore social idealism(s?) (added 02/27/11) indeterminacy, radical undecidability, radical action within complicity (denied,deleted 02/18/11)11/11/10). delete 02/27/11) delete 02/18/11)(added 02/06/11). (deleted line 02/16/11).(this line 02/14/11). I resist identification with positions,(ed.

02/16/2011) because of, (delete 02/18/11 ) (delete 02/18/11)(delete) knowledge/service economies.(line deleted here 02/16/11).(seriously now) the individual attempt to coerce art is counter-intuitive to arts... (this line 02/09/11). (deleted line here, again 02/27/11) art is never realized, all there is, is its pursuit(ed. delete))(02/16/11). (delete today)(joking 02/16/11 added)(delete 02/18/2011) ...(end ed. 02/16/11). First purge practice of gratuitous self expression/ art related fantasies and militant discourses.(delete 02/20/02) for future aspirations of rebellious anonymity. (delete 02/20/11) (added 02/18/11). NO its not mom, its crap (added 02/27/11).

Karen Tennant, We may see, Hand, pen, cue card, 4 x 6 in, 2011

Joy Inae Kim

m I an artist when stories are what truly drives me? Every person holds a unique story and I want to lay in the presence of it all. So, tell me a story. Any story. Make it your story. I’ll tell you mine. I am a 2.5 generation Canadian-American girl of Korean heritage; I write with my art. I use words, paint, ink, and random objects. Mixed mediums, preferably. No one will ever have my story, no one will have yours. Since I was young, I have been interested in the concept of a story. How it came to consume me, I don’t know. In recent years, my interest has specifically been in issues of nationality and the development of culture through the lens of immigrants’ personal narratives. I am also interested in the worlds created by the imagination of young children. Where does reality begin and imagination end? To think how strangely beautiful the world is.

Joy Inae Kim, 6chon (Separation), Silkscreen on paper, 18 x 23 in, 2010. 6

Joy Inae Kim, Have a Cup of Joy, Old tea bags, tea, old coffee and filter, ink on paper, 22 x 30 in, 2010.

Amy EunJoo Chung

am interested in talking about lost things in life. It can be a childhood memory, a public environmental issue or some event that occurred to me which I cannot forget. I try to describe it with a sense of whimsical humour. I have been losing a lot of things in my life, and it can be a way to get them back, or I can never get them back although I have been really look-

ing for them. Such loss is not limited to an individual, but extends to environmental and social issues in the city. To make a connection between humans and social issues I posted images in public spaces to make people aware of those issues. I wanted to make them think about what they have lost in their lives and what may have been forgotten.

Amy EunJoo Chung, Missing, Photograph series, 16x14, 2011

Mia Mushinski

work primarily with drawing, digital media and performance to create works that address identity, intimacy and power. I frequently use tropes of femininity and sexuality to examine their roles in influencing and maintaining our understanding of power and gender. I also stereotypically

depict my own body to study my ambivalence towards conventional constructions of femininity. Recently, I have explored how intimate relationships both encourage and compromise autonomy, control and sense of self.

Mia Mushinski, 15 Minute Closing/Pornstar Solo, Pen, Chinese ink on paper, 22 x 30 in each, 2010. 10

Mia Mushinski, Exercise: Scale, 24 x 36 in, 2010.

Angela Hsiu-Man Wu Perfection and imperfection. Natural and unnatural. Existence and nonexistence. What do we show or hide, gain or lose, see or feel?

y artworks often reflect everyday experiences from the elements that I exist with—my identity, traits, values, skills, and how these elements interact in the social spectrum that I am part of. I focus on personal concerns drawn from past memories and current experiences, and relate these concerns, to cultural and social issues. In this way I attempt to create dialogues with themes of the self, nature, exposure, how we—as an individual and as a collective—exist and how we come to realize and know that existence. Working with video, photography, and more recently, sculpture and installation, I seek to investigate and explore these ideas.

Angela Hsiu-Man Wu, To Prolong, Digital video, 2010.

Angela Hsiu-Man Wu, A Game with the Self, Chess and Xiangqui pieces on customized wood board, game instructions, 12.5 x 13.5 in, 2010.

Yoriko Gillard

have been asking two questions for the past 3 years: “What is ART?” and “Who decides who is an artist?” The answers to these questions are ambiguous and are connected to our metaphysical understanding of things such as our relations to objects, feelings, time and space, and situations determined by one’s culture and experiences. Language, I believe, dictates cognitive activities that are reflected in our judgement, speech and daily actions. As a Japanese immigrant, the struggle with the usage of the English language creates language dissonance which produces tensions and unnecessary boundaries in my mind. How do humans understand reality through images? What is truth? I am struggling between two cultures: Japanese and Canadian. To me, creating art is a reflection of my inner feelings, of the dissonance created by the transitory state that produces different meanings and senses. I am interested in all mediums yet I enjoy painting, drawing, printing, and installation art the most. I continue to make art because it helps me communicate and have dialogues with people who have similar experiences as me… I am: Caught in the middle of the Past and Future, Japan and Canada, Girl and Woman, Obligation and Passion, Sense of Amateur and Professional artists. (partly extracted from my poem: Caught in the Middle: 2009)

Yoriko Gillard, Caught in the Middle after Self Portrait, Installation, 2010.

Yoriko Gillard, 0, Eggshells in a carton, 2010.

Anna Karin Tidlund

he outside becomes the inside. Collectively, we all experience emotions such as fear and joy, which give us the awareness that we are ‘another’ human being. Upon this realization, the notion of individualism is pressed upon us and, paradoxically, we may realize we may be the ‘other’ human being. In phenomenological terms, these projects are aimed as a way to study and observe the existence of the self in the manifestation of other material forms: both as reinforcement of the self but

also as detachment from it. What I am interested in is the intersection between the self, art, and the collective. This exchange is often awkward and strange, but also mundane. What I aim to capture in this body of work is the discomfort and transposition of these ideas. The mediums which I use are predominantly photography and print media. However, this last year has also lent itself to the exploration of other mediums such as digital manipulations, installations and video.

Anna Karin Tidlund, Zenith, Photograph, 2010. 16

Avery Bedford

â&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been told a few times that art is not meant to be funny. But, I often find humor where I should not and art making is my way to tell jokes where others may look for more sober insight. Some are subtle, some are all too clear. Some hide beneath expected art convention while others are on

the edge of the spontaneous. I focus on the quirks of society and the people within it. My work can be seen as satire on the human condition or a commentary on issues like feminism, religion, warfare, commodity, and anything else that the more sophisticated chat about while drinking wine.

Avery Bedford, Polesport Confederation, Acrylic on canvas board, 36 x 24 in, 2010.

Alison Lau

Allison Lau, Floral Series, Waterslide decal paper on ceramic, 9 x 9 in, 2010.

y works are often seen as personal, vernacular, and nostalgic. Materials come from everyday encounters, objects kept in the attic, or trivial things lying around at home. Using traces from daily life in art making, I celebrate the mundane and the ordinary, as well as engaging viewers in a dialogue about my experiences and memories. Fragments of memories are preserved in series of works, which, in a sense, is extended self portraiture. These personal narratives are explored using a variety of media, such as photography, print media, video, sculpture or a combination thereof.

Allison Lau, Kentville Kindergarten Exercise Book, Silkscreen on duotang, 8 x 10 in, 2010.

Ashleen Rider

shleen Rider works primarily in the plastic arts, including painting, drawing, and print media. As a student with parallel studies in Visual Arts and English literature, she creates pieces which examine and evaluate the roles of

metaphor, narrative, and allegory within a contemporary art practice. Ashleenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent work references tropes through the use of consumer plastic bags, which are torn and adhered to a surface to produce simulacra of paintings.

Ashleen Rider, Untitled, Plastic bags on window insulating film, 48 x 72 in, 2010.

Ashleen Rider, Simulacrum III, Plastic bags on acrylic, 36 x 36 in, 2010.

Alvis Chu

Alvis Chu, Dysania, S.P.F. lumber, 60 in x 100 ft roll of fine art paper, 60 x 60 in, 2010.

y work is informed by the virtues of the pure, the absolute and the primordial. The aesthetic is reduced to material concerns and any formal considerations are only a product of my lack of ability in dealing with those materials. There is an equal weight in reason and intrinsic knowing when it comes to the production of my work. The hand of the artist, be it in the production of objects or situations, imbues the experience with life and a vitality that will persist after death. The only important period of humanity is when we became sentient and we stared at the stars together.

Lisa Leu

n recent years my artistic practice has become consumed by ongoing exploration of self-portraiture, cognitive processes and culture. I am interested in psychoanalysis and the construction of the self; I see my practice as an indexical process through which I may map and materialize my experiences. Combining the physical and mental, natural and synthetic, I explore transitional states and the development of fragmented narratives.

Lisa Leu, Personal Physics, India ink on watercolor paper, 60 x 60 in, 2010.

Athena Papadopoulos

thena Papadopoulos’ current practice is multidisciplinary. She works across a variety of mediums including photography, video performance, drawing, painting and sculpture. For the past three years (2009-2011), the focus of her work has been on the creation of staged domestic narrative photography and, more recently, she has been building on a body of painting performances. Both Papadopoulos’ photographic and video works are united by an element of performance and an interest in playing with and subverting culturally constructed depictions of the artist and the feminine. Cumulatively, she at-

Athena Papadopoulos, Bath Bob, Photograph, 28 x 40 in, 2010.

tempts to create works that often use cynicism and dark humour to perturb viewers’ perception. Papadopoulos uses the domestic realm as a space to host uncanny, dissonant events to which she can apply her own imagined language and narrative. She is interested in the eccentric, unsavoury and terrifying behaviours that occur within the domestic, private realm where individuals most freely pursue their fantasies and leisure. Papapdopoulos’ work attempts to bring these private, intimate spaces to a rigid, conventional public milieu and in so doing confound the relationship between these two environments.

Athena Papadopoulos, The Swell that Swallowed, Photograph, 28 x 40 in, 2010.

Carrie McKay Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. —Mahatma Gandhi, Indian political and spiritual leader (1869–1948)

f what Gandhi says is true, where does that leave the individual who inhabits the form of a presupposed idea or assumption? Would pre-existing thought and expectation, as projected onto an individual by the outside world, then reconstitute what that individual considers her or his own idea of self to be? Happiness, then, is a relative term that is changeable, maleable, and at all times in the hands of the impersonal public as much as it is in the realm of the personal. Painting is my number one, multimedia a close second.

Carrie McKay, Woman Series (#2 and #6), Acrylic and paper on wood, 8 x 24 in, 2010.

Brenda Mattman How then shall we live: considering our genetics, our technologic capabilities, our natural world?

ntricate genetic codes define us in a primordial sense. Expanding technologic capabilities empower us. Our natural world spawns us, melds with us and sustains us—yet cringes into darkness against our bright blinding technologic prowess. Is humanity’s future limited by our primordial genetics, or by the finite resources and tolerance of nature placed in opposition to the ever expanding/polluting opened Pandora’s box of technology? Tidal waves confront us. With this roar of doom in our sights, Brenda Mattman asks the question, “How then shall we live?” Using a multitude

Brenda Mattman, Scar, Oil on canvas, 36 x 46 in, 2011.

of artistic techniques to explore this central question, her works hint at the answer: the medium—Creativity! In creative ways we can enhance our social structure and, ultimately, our social relations with our neighbours in the natural world, to enable a viable future for humanity. This enlightened society will be hard won and will take time. The first step is to reach back to our earliest stages of development and learn to live anew. We can start by examining our first creative impulses—to draw with a stick—it is beautiful and harmless.

Brenda Mattman, Drawing Stick, Digital photograph, 2011.

Claire Sproule

verwhelmed by the contemporary condition, Claire Sproule has turned to the safety of home and the comfort of human connections. It is in pairing things down to the most simplistic elements that life can become real again. She works primarily with painting, video and installation. In taking found material, home videos and old photographs, the personal archives of her life are re-worked in a sentimental yet uncanny approach. Most recently, her practice has been centered around portraiture and the Mother. Using memories and images of her own mother she explores identity through psychoanalysis.

Claire Sproule, Archives and Archetypes (from Mother project), Oil and wax on fabric, 72 x 48 in (each), 2010.

Brendan Albano

am interested primarily in contexts. I am skeptical of the creation of art objects that consider neither the audience they are made for nor the audience their making and exhibition produces. I come from a theatre background, and I draw inspiration from the long history of interactive theatre—and by this I also mean audiences heckling and throwing fruit—as well

as more recent theories of participation in contemporary art. I am most excited by inter-audience interaction. The artwork becomes a catalyst, a MacGuffin. I want the narratives that unfold amidst an audience to create relationships that are both honest and artificial. I want to create an oscillation between participatory delight and selfaware discomfort. In short, I want to play.

Brendan Albano, Tiny Parties, installation with lumber, DJ, beer, couch, house party, 96” x 96” x 96”, 2010. 32

Brendan Albano, Trophy #1, from Trophies Project, “Please do not touch” sign, 2011.

Graeme Fisher

ART HAS NO STAKE IN THE STRUCTURE OF THINGS—IT CUTS ACROSS THEM ART HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ‘INTEREST’ FOR IT DOES NOT CONTAIN PARTICULARITY RATHER, ART IS THE INTIMATE AND IMPERSONAL PRODUCTION OF A TRUTH ADDRESSED TO EVERYONE ART TAKES THE FORM OF ABSOLUTE FIDELITY TO AN IDEA, BUT THE RESULT NECESSARILY EXCEEDS IT THE THOUGHT OF ART STEMS FROM A FUNDAMENTAL DISPLACEMENT—IT IS EXPOSITION ART DOES NOT PRODUCE THE PROFOUND DISTANCE OF CONTEMPLATION, RATHER IT RESIDES IN THE TOTALLY PROXIMAL, AS IN A LOVERS’ EMBRACE THERE IS NO TIME FOR CONSIDERING LIMITS—WE ARE ALWAYS ALREADY CAST INTO INFINITUDE THE PURPOSE OF ART IS TO RENDER VISIBLE THAT WHICH FOR THE STATE DOES NOT EXIST THE ARTIST IS NOT ONE BUT MULTIPLE UNLIMITED HUMAN STRIKE -COUPE L’ETAT

Kavin Ni

he project has arisen from my own fascination with decay and degradation. In this video piece, I am acting in bombastic movements with escalating tensions and sensory assaults as to imply metaphysical decay. This raw, ugly and nonsensical portrayal is a reflection of my art practice in society and mass culture. The taste of elites impose their ugliness, baseness, and degeneration onto this practice, yet in turn they see my type of art as degenerate and obscene in taste. I will channel this perceived decay in character, virtue, and mind through mass production. I choose the medium of video because it is the only medium that I can comfortably portray myself doing a performance; a live performance would otherwise change my body language. Video is also the language of the masses.

Carnem Levare, video, 2011

Decay shall not be denied; it shall be redeemed. 35

Eric McKinnon

he practice of this artist is that of a self-reflective mode of therapy from both personal experience and worldly perspective. McKinnon, born in Toronto, Ontario, is well traveled and draws his inspiration from an international arena. Taking on the role of researcher, he pushes the frame of reference within each of his works. In the majority of his pieces, he attempts to change the original outlook of his audience, breaking the limitations of the mindset within the every day. McKinnon explores important themes, such as the environment, disease and identity, by employing both earnest and hu-

Eric McKinnon, The Party, Manipulated photograph, 54 x 35 in, 2009.

morous means. He uses all mediums at his disposal including sculpture, digital/print, photography and illustration. His more recent artworks comment on the way individuals are identified in society. Objects such as personal identification cards and wallets hint at our individually calculated geographic and mental placement. He also displays imprints people leave behind as they pass on or through given spaces. Using disposal bins, dumpsters, and our everyday garbage, the artist connects the fingerprints of each citizen to their neighbor, thereby creating a global web.

Eric McKinnon, Wasted Space, Photograph series, 55 x 30 in, 2009.

Hope La Farge To what extent is “sex” a constrained production, a forcible effect, one which sets the limits to what will qualify as a body by regulating the terms by which bodies are and are not sustained? — Judith Butler

he body is a complex organism. As a concept, it has an infinite number of associations and figurative forms that are manifested within objective practices. The visceral, raw, and fluid body is protracted into the imagined, symbolic and illusory realms of exhibition. The private is made public, and the human body is thereby extended beyond its original state, both by speciation and physical distortion. Art has always been a big part of my life. I have chosen not to subjugate myself to one medium: to enjoy a full range of media from video, photography, print-media, sculpture, and painting. Aspirations have been drawn from Marie Chouinard, Rebecca Horn, Allyson Mitchell and popular culture.

Hope La Farge, Trans, Plaster, 2010.

Hope La Farge, Shed, Archival ink on photographic paper, 2010.

Jonathan Lee

Jonathan Lee, Structure 1, MDF, 48 x 48 x 108 in, 2010.

eason, Dominion, Collapse, Frailty, Transparency, Hysteria, Lust, Enlightenment, Adoration: the qualitative and thematic characteristics of the structures I produce. The structural compositions exhibit a severe, “cutting,” atmospheric posture, minimalistic in style. The meditative experience: a process built around repetition and solemn internal dispute where no thought runs unforgotten. As the mind consumes the inner ravines of our mental capacity, so too do these sculptures in their respective realities. Whereby, in manifesting itself physically, each project renders the totality of cerebral activity. The structures refuse to abide by any one means of justifying its practice in the vast array of eclectic ideologies. However, one theoretical posture stands distinguished from many conventional ideologies. The neutral and collective, composed and poetic “Affect theory” stages a stark and fresh rekindling of interest, uniquely standing outside of contemporary artistic theorem. The “Affect” is surmised as a distinguished experience of uncanny feelings that prod instinctive physical responses by means of unidentifiable stimuli. In the realm of psychoanalysis, they only exist as reactionary, sensory motor responses. Without explanation, the viewer is invited to feel the intensities of the structures to access the works as a meditative experience; engaging in the qualitative and thematic characteristics without a prescribed study of theoretical depth.

Alisha Pelton

am an artist who primarily uses the medium of photography to explore power relations and political resistance. I almost exclusively use 35mm colour and black and white film.

Alisha Pelton, Cover Up Series (No 9), Photograph, 18 x 27 in, 2010. 41

Jessica Pang You see a girl with the big mouth, and a distinguishable beauty mark? Yeah, that’s me.

hrough self-reflective portraits, I mainly investigate subjects of gendered narrative, obsession, consumption, and body image. I am a multi-disciplinary artist, and I tend to draw a lot of attention to myself. I want to be everywhere in my work. Draw me! Film me! However, I have this innate urge to mask my portrait in subtle ways, to stick something grotesque in my mouth, to furrow my brows to look like my sister. And why did I give myself a third chin, when I don’t have one? I play with the ego and try to find a balance between attraction and repulsion. Why do I obsess over self-depreciating my body, and then find it near exhilarating when my work is being judged? Am I self-conscious? Do I really love to hate myself?

Jessica Pang, After Hypnagogia, Stop motion video, 1’23”, 2010.

Jessica Pang, Eat It Up and Suck It In, Painting, 24 x 48 in, 2010.

Julie Wong

rawing, painting, and photography allow me to explore the multiplicity of human perception, including the dialectics, contradictions, and social dynamics of human relationships. Through the process of creating, I am able to understand the inner workings of my own fascinations and discover depth within them. My ideas manifest themselves through observing the intriguing similarities, differences, and occasional oddities in life. Oddity motivates me and is channeled into different parts of my work as I strive to create spontaneous and transcendental pieces that draw in their viewers.

Julie Wong, Breakfast, Digital Photographs, 11 x 8 in, 2009.

Julie Wong, The Potato, Photo documentation, 8 x 4 in, 2010.

Annie Hong

am interested in the conditions of contemporary art, the symptoms of images and their dissemination in visual culture via structures of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;truth,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; and the relation between language and culture, especially their interactions within the third space. My practice is not identifiable by medium(s), but rather by the concepts and ideas that dictate the medium of choice. In particular, through the medium of painting, I explore the existential anxiety of pluralistic art-making created by the tension between the freedom of contemporary art and its indefinite meaning after the tropes of modernism.

Annie Hong, Untitled, UBC Library book, 11 x 10 x 5 in, 2010. Annie Hong, Untitled, Acrylic, fluid medium, nails, 144 x 96 in, 2010.

Joo Eun Lee

he following replenish me with inspiration for making art: daydreams and night-consciousness/unconsciousness, memories (especially of childhood), and the romantic side of mundane events or objects. While re-collecting the past, that which is distant or recent, nostalgia is evoked. I also record overlooked everyday objects or events that arouse some sense of sentiment. I work with various media, such as pencil drawing, painting, sculpture, digital mediums, or mixed media. Using unlimited methodologies, I explore the deconstruction, reconstruction, and displacement of ready-mades in search of new and unique modes of representation. I would like to invite viewers into my works and let them meander in streams of thought, imagination, memory and dream.

Joo Eun Lee, Untitled, Lightbulbs, watercolor, acrylic, 80 x 30 x 90 in, 2010. Opposite: Joo Eun Lee, Untitled, String, clay, metal, discovered objects in polyester resin, 85 x 60 in, 2010. 49

Joyce Tsang

personally believe that artworks reflect the artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s state. Whether current or previous, there may not necessarily be an identifiable purpose in the work, but it is an expression of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personal feeling. I draw academically and during my spare time. Although one may presume that my favorite works are the ones Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve spent the most time planning and researching for, I often prefer my doodles of complete randomness, as they clearly record a specific moment of my thinking. I draw to record myself, to document the changes I go through as an individual. Looking back at my works, I may not be able to recall its specific meaning, but I am reminded of the feeling I experienced when producing each work. That is important because just a spontaneous stroke of creation may be better than words at delivering what a specific moment is like. I therefore adore the visual quality of works more than their actual meanings. I work with varied mediums: pen and Joyce Tsang, Death ink, pencil crayons, or pencil and waterof Nature, Fabric, 30 color. I enjoy the ability to capture precise x 60 x 34 in, 2008. details with these mediums. The combination of watercolor, pen, and ink is my favorite because the flow of my thinking can be smoothly captured by the fluidity of watercolor, yet it is still contained and advanced with the strength and boldness of ink. The details are still present while my mind runs 50 free from thought to thought.

Crystal Ho

he process of art-making allows me to discover my inner being. In each artwork, the image, medium and subjectivity weave my identity and beliefs into one rich tapestry. Recent works involve repeating symbols or processes. Each repetition expresses a new discovery of myself. Life is rich and filled with diverse perspectives. The repetitive patterns represent the various layers of complexity in life.

Crystal Ho, Beautiful Decay, Photograph, 2010.

Kate Finch

y artwork focusses on two main themes. One being the theme of commodity and value, the other being that of the juxtaposition between innocence and femininity versus violence. I have created several works over the past two years dealing with the concepts of commodity and value. Through this process, I have tried to raise questions such as: What makes art valuable? Where does art

Kate Finch, Domestic Bliss, Video, 2011.

stand in economics? How do peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perceptions of reality play into the value of a piece? The other theme I have explored in much of my work is the tension between the innocence/femininity and violence and the urge to break out of stereotype. This has manifested itself in various ways, but often in the form of painting, printmaking or mixed media collage.

Kate Finch, Violent Night, Relief copper plate print, 18 x 24 in, 2011.

Kate Nadeau

he human form has always played a dominant role within my visual artwork. I have taken an interdisciplinary approach to my art practice, creating two-dimensional works in digital photography, drawing, painting, printmaking and collage. I am particularly interested in how an individual interacts with the space he or she is occupying. My intent is to capture the physical structure of the body as an object, speculatively and sexually, focusing mainly on the human figureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to be manipulated into contorted positions. By addressing the human body as an abstract form, I investigate the appearance, formal structure, patterning, and spatial execution of the subject.

Kate Nadeau, Continuous, Painting, 39.5 x 31.5 in, 2010. 54

Kate Nadeau, Totem Pole, Painting, 23.75 x 36 in, 2010.

Laura Reitenbach

internalize them. There is a push and pull relationship between what we would like to do and what we think we should do. Our reactions to these external triggers become evident within our internal dialogues. In my earlier works, I examine these internal dialogues, specifically those of young women concerned with the notion of beauty. I am interested in expanding upon this work by exploring how such internal dialogues might be projected upon external triggers. In examining this internal/external relationship, I hope to gain insight and awareness of the immense impact that society has upon individuals and their daily interactions in the world.

hotography has always been an outlet for me to consider the world around me, helping me gain a deeper understanding of the society and culture of which I am inevitably intertwined. I have adopted photography as a means to examine our awareness of social norms. My work revolves around the individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s internal reaction to the external triggers of society. It is evident that there are undercurrents in our society that sway people to act and react in a socially acceptable manner, whether in the way we interact with others or in how we treat ourselves. We subconsciously absorb the ideals that are projected towards us from society and

Laura Reitenbach, Imperfect Bodies, Photograph, 15 x 64 in, 2009. 56

Laura Reitenbach, Work in Progress, Photograph, 8.5 x 11 in, 2009.

Keith Morrison

hrough my work, I examine the phenomenon of “The Hulk,” a metaphorical interpretation of both masculine and feminine imagery. What began as a personal journey of addressing the taboo of producing hyper-masculine imagery has translated into images that confront head-on the clash between masculine and feminine. I’m interested in addressing issues of social taboo and that which makes people uncomfortable. Ironically, the work seems visually pleasing to even the most conservative people. I work in any medium that is necessary, yet I am most interested in public intervention, bold printmaking/sculpture installations, and wood-cut or intaglio. I am a recipient of a grant from the Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Foundation, which will allow me to exhibit in group shows at Burger King and MOMA. I currently spend my time between my McDonalds restaurants in Vancouver and Berlin.

Keith Morrison, DOWN WITH KEN, Performance, 2010-2011.

Jocelyn Chan

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Leonardo Chan A sculptor is a person who is interested in the shape of things, a poet in words, a musician by sounds. —Henry Moore.

am a person who is interested in the shape of things. Sculpture is my method, my id. Most of the time my artwork is sculptural or installation-based because I find it easier to visualize and understand a problem when I can express it physically. The materials I work with are usually more industrial and include: wood, Plexiglas, metal and concrete. I shape things to reiterate my thoughts; my sculptures prove the validity of my ideas. Through art-making I am able to further develop my thoughts such that I may better express myself.

There is a relationship between the existence of the artist and their artwork. The artist does not exist if they cannot express their thought and art cannot function without the pensive notion. Yet, it is possible for pensive art to exist independently. Perhaps, through the representation of thought, the artist becomes the artwork as much as the artwork becomes the artist; the pensive object. Since shape demands representation, my sculptures can physically represent my inner thoughts and ideas. Hence the physicality of material and shape represent my thoughts, and that representation becomes the reality of my existence. I make, therefore I think— “Cogito ergo sum—I think, therefore I am”— René Descartes.

Leonardo Chan, Synthesis, Steel, concrete, 33 x 24 x 24 in, 2010. 61

Leah Tan

am interested in what constitutes reality and the world I live in. I am always in search of truth because I believe it exists. Through photography, painting and printmaking, I am able to further communicate my need and desire to create. To me, art is about the process rather than the finished product. At least, that is what I keep telling myself.

Leah Tan, Red Painting (After Rauschenberg), Oil, paper and fabric on canvas, 2010. 62

Leah Tan, Come Back To Me, Written, Etching and digital print, 2010.

Monica ChiHea Hwang

uring the past three years at UBC, I have explored various art techniques such as printing, painting, photography and textiles. Out of all of them I am most interested in staged photography, which reflects the concept of presenting an idea in a theatrical way. I believe art is a visual creation that helps the artist to stage their theory for an audience. Therefore, most of my works are about the personal emotions, beliefs and memories I want to tell that audience about. I wish to make viewers dramatically fall in love with my works at the first sight. In order to make this happen, I endeavor to make a beautiful and visually attractive piece.

Monica ChiHea Hwang, Monicaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Secret Photography, Photograph, 34 x 54 in, 2010. 64

Monica ChiHea Hwang, Fly Me to the Moon, Relief print, 24 x 18 in, 2009. 65

Lindsay Butler

he focus of my artwork has most often been driven by self-discovery and personal struggles. I tend to draw inspiration from things that affect my life directly, and currently, which has led to a varied and nonspecific body of work that consists of many different media. Although my preferred medium is pencil, I have used my time at UBC to develop my skills in other mediums, such as photography and acrylic, and have been attempting to better define myself as an artist in doing so. I hope to continue my art practice beyond university and branch out even further into the art world.

Lindsay Butler, Chasing the White Rabbit, Painting, 24 x 36 in, 2010. 66

Lindsay Butler, Dromedary (1/3),Acrylic on mixed media, 24 x 36 in, 2010.

Nicholas Cheng

ear and anxiety dictate how a person behaves and are often debilitating to oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life. My artwork touches on past experiences of trauma, which I use to better understand both myself and my paranoia. These instances are magnified, exaggerated and reproduced into signs that may be familiar to the viewer. I deal with a variety of mediums as each event determines the materials most suitable for its creation.

Nicholas Cheng, Howâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s he doing?, Apoxy sculpt, polystyrene, greeting card sound chips, 8 x8 x 4 in, 2010. 68

Nicholas Cheng, Have a Seat, Wood, knife, 24 x 13 x 13 in, 2010.

Muraco Hranchuk

y art practices are cross-disciplinary in media. Most of my work deals with print media and print media in combination with book binding, but I also work with photography, installation, painting and illustration. My artwork investigates ideas around sexuality, femininity, the body, gender power dynamics, voyeurism and identity.

My recent work uses type as image (words to produce form and add context), humour, deconstruction, re-purposing, manipulation, displacing context through alteration or â&#x20AC;&#x153;detournement.â&#x20AC;? I am currently researching questions of representation and the intersection between social constructs of gender identity and consumerism in relation to the uses and the selling of human hair.

Muraco Hranchuck, Billy Brown the Baby Maker, Altered childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book, 4 x 8 in, 2010. 70

Muraco Hranchuck, Animals on the Farm, Book, 5 x 5 in, 2010.

Samson Tam

Samson Tam, Sweetly Speaking Nine, Interactive single channel installation, 2010.

rom an interdisciplinary approach to art-making, my work roots itself in investigating the constructions of identity, the mechanics of culture and the production of spaces. Utilizing a wide variety of mediums, from print to digital media, my practice attempts to embrace the “contemporary” through the vividness of the past. For design, it means an endless exploration dealing with time, constant reconfiguration, change and renewal. My interests in the realms of narrative, myth and folklore come forth in my work, with many themes reinterpreted or reinvented.

An underlying process in my work is the development of disjointed points, or periods, of reference. Nothing can be understood if one does not approach from various angles or vistas. Stylising, Orientalising, Fragmentation, Pushing and Pulling and Crossings are only a few of many periods that I have come to explore. In due time I aim to produce work that is not only critical of its own creation—in its origin and surroundings—but one that fosters dialogue with the spectator’s senses, body and mind. I desire to make work that is about the people and for the people. 72

Samson Tam, ABC, The Metamorphic Code, Silkscreen with flocking, 9.75 x 14.5 in, 2010.

Samson Tam, Gold Mountain, Performance, CD player (Hamilton IV’s “Canadian Pacific”), mylar, poster, 2010. 73

Stephanie Chang

that what I discover through creating these objects is at all universal, they do reveal a truth about myself and the people in my life. General topics I’ve covered include identity, history, culture, sexuality, and the invisible. I typically prefer working with either print media or installation of various forms of light or projection. I like the multiple visual planes involved within projection, which add another layer when dealing with topics like history. I also like the use of light as a medium because of all the various met aphors it holds such as revealing truth in darkness, safety, emotion, or a spark of inspiration. It is functionally a creative tool for controlling the viewer’s focus.

address topics that deal with things that are, perhaps, less discussed but aren’t complicated; simple influences and inspirations. I sometimes work with the political, but for the most part I’m focused on memory and how it relates to identity. I am interested in how the past and the things we choose to remember or forget shape the way we live our lives, and affect our choices or even our sense of morality. All of these are fundamentally important to me. It feels important; and why I feel driven in this direction of practice, sometimes to the point of obsession, can be summed up to a phrase mentioned in my sociology classes: the goal being to uncover some kind of universal truth. Although I couldn’t claim

Stephanie Chang, Tent Project, Installation, 72 x 96 in, 2010. 74

Stephanie Chang, Oven Project, Installation, 23 x 30 x 36 in, 2010.

Shelley Fearnley I make Art to join the chattering interior with the extraordinary exterior. I spend hours lost in thought on the special blue sofa. I love how making Art erases time.

rt is a unique communication genre. It provides an overarching, yet distinct, global site for contemporary dialogue and its subject matter is so varied as to be limitless; it is the perfect venue for the exchange of human thought. Conceptually diverse subject matter can be expressed and received in a single, timeless and direct expression. But what to discuss? Universality is surely relevant, but narrower topics are equally necessary to concentrate information in our increasingly pluralist contemporary existence. To place an emphasis on questioning present human issues and preventing recurrence of past human failures is surely a function of Art made now. My artistic interests range widely; from translation of scientific observation regarding the nature of aesthetics, drawing attention to our increasingly fragile ecosystems, down to expression of a single emotion. Inspirational theoretical frameworks to contextualize my practice include any and all that address the fragmentation felt by most of us engaged in an increasingly complicated contemporary existence. While my paintings and mixed media installations may project an idiosyncratic view of life, my hope is that familiar imagery presented within unusual frameworks can provide opportunities to recognize universal similarity over individual difference. 76

Shelley Fearnley, You are an Animal, Multimedia installation, 120 x 120 x 120 in, 2010.

Shelley Fearnley, Vegetable, Oil on canvas, 36 x 36 in, 2010. 77

Tony Lu How do you sleep with yourself at night?

ithout directly answering this question, there are still countless ways to achieve the â&#x20AC;&#x153;desiredâ&#x20AC;? result, with or without the presence of the physical or metaphysical self. Especially when technology advances in such a rapid rate, what artistic notions will you be able to create in accordance to an influential environment like this? Bearing such ideas in mind, I focus my work mainly on photography and digital media. My works are largely about the critical relations between contemporary technology and public response in relation to its past, present and future. The ephem-

Tony Lu, Signals 2, Digital video, 180 x 120 in, 2011.

eral nature of a technological process, the recycling and reconstruction of a used idea, and the inevitable influences of our surroundings are all interesting areas that I wish to explore deeper. What intrigues me as I develop my conceptual ideas are the mixture of thoughts and feelings going on in the viewer, what kind of psychological or emotional relations each person will be able to draw from the artworks. I believe that by voicing ideas and concerns that not only apply on an individual level but as a collective, the responses become extremely valuable as part of the actual artwork itself.

Tony Lu, Recycled, Digital photograph, 30 x 20in, 2011.

Olga Rybalko

do not pretend that my works are more than what they areâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;student worksâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; made for the audience to which they are presented, the university faculty and students. They are, undeniably, the product of the specific institutional environment in which they were created. My personal interest in art practice is the nature of art-making, its process, and the relevance of art to life. Among the many ways to look at these issues, I choose to see the decadence of art making, its futility and

the uncertainty and hesitation in it, since art making is described by many as a series of decisions or choices made by the artist. My goal is to expose art as a charade, as a vain and ineffectual endeavour. However, I do not boast a disdain for art: there are many artists and art theorists whom I admire and look up to. After all, I am an artist and would not want to undermine my own authority. Rather the purpose of my criticism is to remove some of the hauteur and give art a lighthearted air of humour.

Olga Rybalko, If You Make Art in a Forest..., Inkjet print, 16 x 20 in, 2011. 80

ÂŠ University of British Columbia Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory, 2011 isbn: 978-0-88865-813-5