2020 Exhibition Season begins with After Eden and Anima
By Contributor
What comes After Eden? Visual and performance artist Stephanie Kellett and sound artist Robert Livingood explore this question in a multi-media exhibition at the Kootenay Gallery of Art in Castlegar.
Kellett and Livingood are life partners as well as artistic partners, based in Nelson, the pair has travelled on several occasions to central and northern BC and Yukon, spending months in the wilderness. In their most recent two excursions to the sub Arctic, they came across very little wildlife and crisp, dry tundra.
With this exhibition, the artists express the increasing emptiness of the northern landscape that they have experienced on recent journeys. Kellett has created a series of ghostly portraits of animals in peril, such as wolves, caribou, and salmon. Together, Kellett and Livingood created a short video featuring Kellett as a figure in mourning floating on the barren expanse. To complete the exhibition, Livingood crafted sound work in situ, using field recordings and an analogue synthesizer. The subtle and eerie sound piece loops continuously throughout the gallery.
The companion exhibition to After Eden is Anima by Lydia Miller. Originally from Nelson but now based in the Victoria area, Miller is exploring materials from the sea and land for this exhibition. Miller is a weaver and uses her practice as a metaphor for life and its survival. The artist will construct a woven installation in the West Gallery for this exhibition.
In conjunction with the exhibitions, adult educator and therapist, Jan Inglis is offering a workshop entitled Grief, Grit, and Gratitude: Developing Resilience in the Face of Climate Crisis. This workshop will take place at the Kootenay Gallery of Art on April 18 from 1:00 – 4:30 p.m., on the last day of the exhibitions.
All of the artists will be in attendance for the opening of the two exhibitions on March 6 at 7 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend this free event. The exhibitions will both continue until April 18.
For more information about the exhibitions or workshop, contact the Kootenay Gallery of Art at 250-365-3337, kootenaygallery@telus.net or www.kootenaygallery.com
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