confines

contributing artists
Tamara Abdel Malek Laura Acevedo Erika Altosaar Stphanie St-Jean Aubre Steffie Blanger Carly Belford Katrina Brandstadt Miriam Brookman Rachael Carr Stephanie Coleman Benjamin Croze Alain Daigneault Patrick Guilbeault Jessica Hebert Laura Adelaide Hudspith Eli Kerr Niki Kingsmill Marie-Pier Malouin Lauren McGowan Sophia Mitchell Kate Metten Flix-Antonin Nol Theresa Passarello Zo Ritts Jodi Sharp Christopher Spears Patryk Stasieczek Janna Maria Vallee Casey Watson Aleksandra Wizimirska Trevor Wheatley Jonathan Woods

confines
To enclose within bounds; to limit or restrict. To shut out or keep in. A boundary. A border. Restriction of spaces, time, physical movement and perceptions. Interiority. Windows and weather. Inside. Being within. Spaces and states. Proprioception. Its all in your head.

Often bagging the deceased is a procedural operation in our society. This ritual is usually only reserved for humans and animals, but they are not the only things that expire. Fashions, cultures, ideologies also expire as do the objects that they transcend. With this understanding that death has a multiplicity of meanings the notion of covering a vacant entity can re-manifest in the domain of furniture design, specifically chairs, as their are many in among us that are conceptually dead.

Eli Kerr, Christopher Spears, Tamara Abdel Malek

Body Bag: For Conceptually Dead Chair

Katrina Brandstadt
Halo

Katrina Brandstadt
Halo (detail)

This project is a sculptural installation that establishes a relationship between materials and the negative space they create. The standing piece is a pulley system of two wooden beams, one suspended above the other. Physical intervention from the viewer is necessary to activate the sculpture. A third wooden beam anchors the rope used to suspend the hovering beam. The installation reflects the exact time between two actions, which happened before and what will happen next. The space between the two beams creates tension and in result to this, the observer anticipates the movement of the sculpture. It suggests the activation of each part without presenting it. Conceptually, this project experiments with the effect of gravity and how it constantly tortures humans subject to terrestrial attraction. What makes this sculpture interesting is the movement that emerges of it, and the challenge of making a static element engaging.

Steffie Blanger
Points de Suspension

SOHPHIA MITCHELL
Seduction, Post Apple

Jonathan Woods
Berri St

Jonathan Woods
Socked Feet

Jodi Sharp
For a Partner

Zo Ritts
Constellation 2, Constellation 3

Stphanie St-Jean Aubre

Rsidu

Casey Watson
Synechdoche

Casey Watson
Skin

Aleksandra Wizimirska
Untitled

Janna maria vallee

Fragments of an Education

Fragments of an Education was a site-specific installation using rubbings of surfaces around Concordia University as code to reveal messages about alternative minds in the education system. In March of 2011 for a two week period the installation could be seen from the eighth floor of Concordia Universitys EV building on the East annex. The artist invited people to participate by giving them postcards containing the legend (on the front) and a fill-in-the-blanks (on the back) to assist them in decoding the message on the banner. Vallee hopes to demystify some of the preconceptions brought about by Western imperialistic ways of thinking which put the population into two limiting categories; intelligent or unintelligent. The message she chose is meant to make the viewer think differently about the assumptions they make about others and judgements they place upon themselves, while also acting as a message of hope and encouragement. The installation is also available in the form of a website, decode it yourself here: fragmentsofaneducation.weebly.com

Flix-Antonin Nol
Untitled

Marie-Pier Malouin
(38x2)+15+19+(32x3)+(30x2)+55+29+(26x2)= 30 sec

Rachel Carr
Shop Stall

carly belford
Untitled

erika altosaar
Untitled

Patryk Stasieczek
ACAMERA

laura adelaide hudspith

Encased Element

laura adelaide hudspith

Chair Leg Soft Tissue

Theresa Passarello
Camouflage

Theresa Passarello
There She Is

Miriam Brookman
Unfolded

Patrick Guilbeault
Sans Titre

Benjamin Croze
Posters

Benjamin Croze
Meta

Stephanie Coleman
Gut/tuG

Formations is a collection of sculptural pieces that mainly deals with growth, expansion, and cultivation. It explores site responsive installations with various materials and forms. The pieces reflect a play between the primitive structure and the synthetic. They play between the organic and pure, and the fabricated. Each small form is relevant on its own as well as a connecting piece of a collection, much like the cells in an organism.

laura Acevedo
Synthetic Extrusions

trevor wheatley
Further Seem Forever

alain daigneault
Figureground 2_1

kate metten
Untitled

jessica hbert
After Hours

critique of critiques Niki Kingsmill

First semester has come and gone, and with it, the numerous final critiques we come to know so well. I dont know about you, but I personally find critiques painful and nerve-wracking. Im sure my thoughts are shared by others, but there are always those who adore the prospect of having people observe their work and offer their critical opinion. Im not in any way doubting that the criticism is helpful; its just the process that seems to drag me down. Honestly though, where would we be without the critiquing process? Would we all rest on our own personal opinions of our work and assume them to be correct? Or would we wonder how others might interpret it? Would a professors comments be enough? I cannot give you answers, but I will however explain how my opinion of critiques has seriously changed to an utmost appreciation of the education we receive at Concordia. Back in October, my classmates and I attended an artist talk at Concordia. The talk featured an extremely accomplished artist whose work surrounds fantasy evoked by commercial gathering spaces, like malls, amusement parks and festivals in the Americas. The talk consisted of a slideshow from which the artist narrated and explained materials used, locations, time periods of the work etc. Her body of work was large, ambitious and intrigued many viewers. What was often missing however was the critical question as to why she chose to explore these themes in her work. After one student posed this critical question, the response was found to be a bit disheartening. It was almost a matter of fact-ly because I do sort of answer. After a class discussion following the talk, the vote was unanimous in our expectations for a professional artist to be able to properly explain their inspirations, motives and purpose for art making. This is when it dawned on me that the studio art courses at Concordia have taught me a valuable lesson; the importance of being able to talk about your work. I never in my previous years appreciated the process of critiquing so much. Criticism itself is a scary word; a critical review or commentary. This word has become much more widely accepted as a derivative of the word criticize which may be neutral, is often interpreted negatively. People may try and dress it up by saying that they are giving constructive criticism, when we all know that they plan to put your work on the spot as they carefully autopsy its every stroke. Many students love this process and embrace what others have to say about their work. We try and remember that every student in the class is on the same wavelength, being taught in the same class, but there is one thing that sets us all apart; talent and experience. We are all unique and talented in our own respects, but by human nature we compare ourselves to others and therefore enhance our fears of putting ourselves on display. Again, this creates a duality for those who both love and hate this process. So why am I proclaiming the critiquing process to be so great? Well, despite the agonizing time and emotional energy put into talking about yours and others works, we learn some valuable lessons. Artistic training at Concordia teaches us to be able to analyze the common visual principles of line, colour, form, texture, composition, an advantage that we obtain through education. One can even notice these concepts being applied in our everyday lives. Its hard for

artistic students to look at something aesthetic without thinking like an artist. By critiquing at school, speaking or not, we begin to understand the aspects of a piece that stand out to an audience. Even just by listening, the critiquing process develops a terminology on how to analyze a piece of artwork. In turn, we have now gained access to a foundation of artistic knowledge and conceptual tools. We are able to use these tools to extract the information from an artwork and pick out details that the eye notices. These tools are not solely used to analyze anothers artwork, but also to discuss our own. Having this knowledge allows us to further understand what the viewers responses may be and what they will notice the most. Whether we already know what the content of our piece is, or if it was simply developed through the creative process, we know what we can talk about. We can already think about what we will say to the audience, whether its made up on the spot or not, it nonetheless comes from an inherent artistic training we all learn in the critiquing process. Being able to confidently speak about your artwork, with artistic foundations as support, one is able to further capture their audience. Additionally, supplying valid explanation to your audience will only encourage effective interpretation. Many of us may joke that we can bullshit our way through critiques, but hey, at least we can do that! We obviously know what needs to be said in order to effectively explain and promote our works. An artist who cannot speak about their work appears nave and ignorant. Be proud of the work youve done, no matter how youve made it. After all, weve put in the time and effort to make a piece, and now we should say something about it. We should want to promote our work. So why be afraid of the critiquing process? This simple element of our education is what allows us to develop a foundation and prepare ourselves for our future as artists.

combine 2011 Lauren McGowan

COMBINE 2011: Annual Undergraduate Student Exhibition November 21 - December 2, 2011 COMBINE 2011 is the 26th annual exhibition of Concordia Faculty of Fine Arts undergraduates. The exhibition included explorations of photography, sculpture, drawing, video and installation. Upon entering, what appears to be a cluster of stretched leather suitcases takes up a section of the gallery, which after further inspection are actually made up of reupholstered screen prints on leather. The work is by Mathew Mewit, called, Oxidized Ink Luggage.The use of the suitcases as storage for oil, gasoline, and other common tool shed items throws the artists masculinity in the face of the viewer but comes off more as a gentle nudge, the piece looks like an pyromaniacs luggage torn apart at the airport. On the wall directly across is Heart Singers Choir, paintings by Anna Edell, which pulsate with strong Christian morals, the Sunday school I never attended. Vaguely mod and slightly wholesome, the pieces work on visual level but require further explanation by the artist if the viewer hopes to take away any deeper meaning without jumping to conclusions. The crowds seemed to be uninterruptedly drawn to the dozens of boats in the centre of the gallery, by Arya Nubulic, entitled Life Boats. The small ceramic boats continue in an endless circle of varyingly intense spots of colour and vibrancy. Finding a starting point is problematic, but after walking around the installation three or four times the pieces become soothing and comforting.

Many attendees were trepidatious about entering the dark room hidden in the corner, heads poked in and then were out within seconds. The first impression of Marie Dauverns piece entitled 8 ways and more to get somewhere (though I dont know where this place is) of summer camp in space. Enormous cootiecatchers, or fortune-tellers to some, sculpted out of metallic tin foil cover the floor. In the center of it all, hanging from a string attached to the mother of all cootiecatcher the wanted woman, a Barbie doll, her miniature reflection repeated eight times between sickeningly pink flowers. They are Barbie-like but they contradict each other and we lose sight of her behind the suave and garish surfaces. How to Destroy a Book by Amy Ball and Jeremy Daroyvski was arguably the most talked about piece at Combine. The same book, destroyed over and over in every tangible fashion. Some particularly strong examples are through fire, nail gun, and shredded to bits. The ephemeral nature of the paper could be seen throughout the length of the exhibition as some of books, wet or broken, decayed and fell even more decrepit within their modest frames. The assembled works of the the undergraduate students presents the broad spectrum of aesthetic and technical concerns of the fine arts program at Concordia. Each student revealing current interests in contemporary art and showcasing with unparalleled vitality. Undergraduate students with work on display are: Jrmie Albert | Amy Ball | Simon Belleau | Jessica Campbell | Jeremy Dabrowski | Anna Edell | Maura Lisa Forese | Claire Forsyth | Thea Govorchin | Jessika HadePrcourt | Jean-Franois Hamelin | Eli Kerr | Irene Lepiesza | Marie Dauverne | Matthew Mewett | Marija Mikulic | Eve Tagny | Ngoc-An Trinh | Vronique Vallires

Vitrine displaying InsIde Us by Eve Tagney, during the Combine vernissage

artist statements
Laura acevedo works to illustrated her ongoing interest in intervention of space, displacement, subtle intrusiveness and peculiarity. She uses the multiple to create a sense of curiosity and abstraction. For her, the material is a place to include obscurity in order for the work to capture attention and create a sense of wonder. An important objective in her work is to make it aesthetically pleasing and thoughtprovoking, and to surround the viewer in a captivating space. Acevedo draws inspiration from natural rock minerals conserved in natural history museums, the construction of biology and culture, and the tension and associations between natural phenomenon and human interaction. erika aLtosaars work charts a transformation in understanding sexuality, sensuality, gender programming, and the particularities of being a She. Her marks communicate the fragility of figure. Her figures are both affecting and representative, becoming placeholders for daughters, sisters, mothers, wivesand yet in the absence of their identity we are eerily barred from recognition. With little means of distinguishing one woman from another, we are left with volume, caricature, and anatomy to signal their individuality. To steffie BLanger, a sculpture is an object endowed with personality. The basis of her work is a spiritual thought which gives every living or inert thing a soul. She affirms the mysteries of everyday life by analyzing surroundings objects. In her work Blanger revisits sculptures traditional materials such as wood, metal and casting, sometimes adding malleable mechanisms or electronic subtleties. Her exploration begins with different transformations that leave a perceived movement in the static sculpture. The sculpture transcends the material and creates a presence in a space where the still life becomes alive. carLy BeLford is interested in the relationship between realism and abstraction. Each can be utilized to complement the other and develop an engaging dialogue within a piece. In painting, Belford attempts to complicate the viewers understanding of an image through boldly applied paint and colour, to create an image that is both attractive and provocative to look at. She draws inspiration from traditional landscape painters such as the Group of Seven (Lawren Harris in particular), as well as Peter Doig, Kim Dorland, and hardedge abstraction painters. katrina Brandstadts sculptural work explores systems of the natural world, often presented in contrast with human belief systems. Brandstadt finds the beauty in natures ways intriguing. The laws of science and the human drive to understand and explain the physical world are sites of inspiration. Her ideas for sculptures are initiated by observations in nature and admiration for the complex processes and systems involved. Her work reflects on scientific concepts in comparison to man-made laws, human perceptions and behaviour. Her sculptures combine organic and found objects arranged in abstract or identifiable constructions. By incorporating subtle effects created by motion, fluids, light, or interactive devices, she aims to engage the viewer on a personal level. The end products are often fragile or unique experiences, like a performance.

MiriaM BrookMan is in her graduating year of Studio Arts at Concordia University, minoring in Interdisciplinary Studies of Sexuality. Her work focuses on drawing of various scales, exploring both figurative and abstract motifs. She draws inspiration from a variety of sources, focusing on memory, nature, the urban landscape and the figure as landscape. Combining these motifs and inspiration allows Brookman to explore notions of linearity and balance. rachaeL carrs Marche Aux Puces is antique flea market in Paris that artfully illustrates how empty spaces are filled. Used as a venue for sharing, admiring and collecting, the objects on display swallow all sense of vacancy. Through the organized chaos of compiled trinkets, the viewer is practically forced to adopt a delicate demeanor to respect the air that these fragile artifacts demand. The photographs articulate limitations by heightening the viewers awareness of the surroundings and efforts required to maintain the peace of this quiet setting. stephanie coLeMan uses material to explore the inside of the body in her featured work. A thick sculptural surface and gooey layers of paint, could be any body, any part: an ear canal, a muscle, a wound, a flayed skin. She draws inspiration from a recent car accident which left her with some injuries that require physiotherapy- the work reflects the tension and pain of this experience. Coleman juxtaposes the trauma with the sensual forms of the work, which reflect the care and tenderness used in the works making. A tug deep in your gut can be a feeling of revulsion or pain or even arousal. This painting is about feeling something deep inside. Ben croze, Its nice to paint memories with shades of fantasy as opposed to remembering them exactly the way they happened. Like this girl whos been stripped of identity due to my lack of photography experience. Its nothing personal. That picture is a slide. By lying down next to its projection you can be back in that moment, only this time when you look up its different. You cant see under her dress as if you were really there but you can live out a fantasized version of my memory. Its fun manipulating chemical reactions and light, but you can take it further than that. Jump inside the picture of a fabricated memory. Maybe I have too much time on my hands. Expired film can alter a picture for better or worst. Mostly, its free. Pictures can capture souls so Im building up a collection. These things rise in value over time. aLain daigneauLt hopes to redefine the meaning of work, work processes and their outcomes. He finds inspiration with the idea of jumping, getting out of, leaving, and escaping. He wants to integrate things he worked on previously. His musical background also influences his work. patrick guiLBeauLt - Ma dmarche est dabord une tentative de recherche de la beaut travers limage peinte. Jaime pens la personnalit de la peinture et de son caractre en relation au spectateur. Jai toujours eu ce rflexe inconscient dexprimenter limage construite partir de contradictions. Avec un abstraction gestuelle et lutilisation de lautoportrait, jexplore la physicalit, la sensualit et lrotisme de la peinture. Je veux une confrontation entre le spectateur et le tableaux, de mme que le partage de cette exprience physique et sensuelle ressentie entre les deux. Mon sujet est le corps. Le corps de la toile ainsi que le corps humain.

Jessica hBert explores the experience of nocturnal space in an urban setting. The ambience of the night is able to transform our perception of areas where we evolve and the spaces, which we inhabit, while provoking a pause in our daily experience of the city. Seeking out areas of the city where activity is reduced to a minimum during the evening, Hbert is able to experience the night as a calming place with few people circulating the streets. Her portraits in this series are wanderers, characters who seek, contemplate and interact gently with the backdrop of shadows and lights, which paint the urban landscape. Laura adeLaide hudspith - Our society demands us to look with our eyes, not our hands, yet we feel a fundamental impulse to explore our environments using touch. Forms, textures and intricate details of the world go neglected, uncharted, untouched because of this disconnect between the visual and physical worlds we inhabit. Laura Adelaide Hudspiths practice responds to this disconnect by creating engaging forms that mediate the visual and the tactile. Certain forms have come to hold specific intrinsic connotations and functionalities whether factory or cottage made. Using ceramics, Hudspith seeks to recognize the meanings and functions which certain forms inherently hold and subverting or supplanting them with a new role. Moulding or slip casting offers a chance to use objects that can relate to some aspect of our daily lives; objects which enhance this experience. Like a photograph, her process allows an object to retains the memory of the original, while taking on a life of its own. eLi kerr, christopher spears, taMara aBdeL MaLek are all students in the Design Art Program. Their piece was created for the DART 391 Collaborative Design Research class. Though the work is formally object design, it is well documented with photography and video, making it presentable in a print medium. Body Bag: For Conceptually Dead Chairs is an attempt to create a discourse around the condition of objects in the contemporary world, where we are inundated with objects that do not have the sustainable resiliency or conceptual relevance needed to move forward. We are at a point of departure. We have decided to veil the objects of the past as a formal gesture before embarking into the future. This object collapses facilitating transport and reuse in multiple spaces. This collapsibility creates a performative dynamic in the work that furthers the discourse this concept. Marie-pier MaLouin explores the concepts and methodology in science through textile, sculpture and installation. Particularly interested in the theory of evolution, her work develops an aesthetic vision around systems of organization and classification that govern the scientific world. Using the techniques and data of archeology, biology and statistical sciences such as stratigraphy, typology, mortality rates, cell division or the hereditary principle, Malouin makes connections between the organization of the world and the everyday reality. Working with a minimalist aesthetic both in terms of form and color, line plays an important role in her creations and serves as a summary item. Her work has focuses on the essentials while retaining its conceptual complexity, like the basic principles that form our reality. kate Metten is a third year studio arts major and was the November 2011 featured artist for Interfold Magazines website. Her work speaks to themes of femininity and nostalgia while exploring the push and pull between Fine Art and Craft. Her illustrations and collage

incorporate pattern, therefore referencing craft and the mundane through repetition. The use of craft in her work also makes reference to domesticity and home spaces. In collage, she appropriates images from old National Geographic magazines and impose her own personal histories and ideologies onto them through the juxtaposition of contrasting images. sophia MitcheLLs art is centered on her fascination with the human experience. She has long been captivated by the beauty of people as well as their psychological depth. Sophia uses art as a tool for understanding and capturing life from her perspective. Her preferred medium is oil painting because of the challenge it offers in figuration. fLix-antonin noL is interested the way painting enables him to create very personal and inventive images. As an extension of the mind, its a way for Nol to depict his thoughts accurately. His pieces are similar to dreams, in the way that dreams have many elements that dont seem to make sense which are ultimately related by the unconscious. theresa passareLLos work examines the human condition and is driven by a need to express thoughts or emotions that perplex or overwhelm. She uses drawing and painting figures within an elastic or mobile space, and create a correspondence between these figures and the viewer. A quote by Eric Fischl expresses the motivation behind her work: I paint to return my thoughts to feelings. I mean that I paint backwards from what I think I know or feel, to the place right before I knew what I felt or thought. I paint to the moment before I had words to describe the feelings. Jodi sharp is currently studying studio arts at Concordia University. Her work deals with an intrinsic connection with nature, as well as a lack of boundaries between herself and the physical world. The work often represents the lack of this boundary by merging human, animal and plant materials to create new objects and creatures. She is also interested in collections of objects, as no one thing can represent a being, but a gathering of objects can show many aspects of one whole. patrick stasieczek is a media artist from Edmonton, Alberta, currently based in Montral, Quebec. His work addresses the ontological nature of the lens and the verifiability of such media. Using photography & video to draw out the direct relationship forged within perception, Stasieczek has exhibited his work at Socit des Arts Technologiques, Canadian Center for Architecture, Eastern Bloc, and Galerie Les Territoires. This year he was selected to participate Vancouvers The Cheaper Show and exhibited in Pop Montreal Festivals Art Pop exhibition And No One Was Around stphanie st-Jean auBre takes inspiration from improvisation, and the way it is used in theatre. It can either be an exploration tool for a rehearsed production or be a show in itself. The work is that show: it happens in the making, in reaction rather than in planning, providing a setting for successful accidents to happen. St-Jean Aubre is the coach of her team, which is composed of materials, objects and people. Working from humor, nostalgia and boredom, her process leads to taking action, not to change the world, but a decision take part in it.

zo ritts Constellations emerges from drawing experiments as well as concerns toward para-academic research processes. The simple experience of drawing without intention or specific aim is an act of discovery. These images recall constellations, further referencing discovery. The use basic at-hand materials for this work allowed for a less restrained process than is normally the case in Ritts artmaking. casey Watson explores and manipulates flat surfaces like paper, as a sculptural medium. Playing with the architectural notion that a building is like a living organism: equipped with systems to breathe, expanding, contracting and going through a complete and natural life cycle. Her pictured body of work, deals with the idea that the things we create are extensions of ourselves and are thus temporal and finite - they are birthed, age, and eventually die. Printmaking is aLexandra WiziMirskas revenge on paint. It produces multiples and does away with the preciousness of an artwork. It allows for a work to function, unpretentiously, both as an image and as an object that invites being handled, moved, modified, disturbed, and destroyed. Her interest lies primarily in the human form as an assemblage of structures, seeing the body as a costume, the face as a mask. The imagery she is exploring is rooted in both traditional observational drawing and in the re-appropriation of various methods of describing the body. Void of context, the body-suit transgresses strict representation and becomes a surrogate symbol for I, me, and you. trevor WheatLeys work is a personal portrayal, made on a continual basis. Drawing from shared emotions, Trevor paints from experience, building quick arrangements of text and imagery that create emotional connections. By highlighting specific or overlooked moments that are part of the human experience, happiness, hate, love, sadness, optimism, Trevor also attempts to bring attention to their quiet importance. Jonathan Woods is a final-year photography major. His work generally takes a critical approach to the social construction and upkeep of society, its institutions, and power differentials. His work employs sarcasm, irony or satire to expose the absurdities of social life. He has exhibited his work in two Art Matters festivals, the inaugural ASFASA festival, 2011s Photo 400 (SILVER) publication and, most recently, in two group shows at Joyce Yahouda Gallery in the Belgo Building. Janna Maria vaLLee is an interdisciplinary artist whose work asks questions regarding shared versus independent perception. She seeks to explore the ways in which presence in moments can either be challenged or realized through ones perception of their surroundings and interpersonal relationships. Her materials often include found objects and are used to create traces of moments past which invite the viewer into personal narratives.

photo by Ani Harroch

interfold magazine team

We are delighted to bring you the very first issue of Interfold Magazine. This issue features over 28 contributors and bridges many mediums and practices within the Faculty of Fine Arts. Together these works centre on the themes of confines and interiority, and act as an exhibition within a magazine. We want the common themes that bond these works together to inspire and astound you with what Concordia artists have to offer. Interfold was created for the purpose of uniting artists and promoting their work throughout the campus and the Montreal community. We sincerely thank everyone who contributed and are very proud to be presenting your work in our very first publication. We hope you enjoy it!

editor-in-chief: Bella Giancotta Managing editor: Ali Moenck events and coMMunications executive: Iain Meyer-Macauley art director: Jeremy Sandor designer: Jessie Thavonekham photographers: Joe Cornfield, Steve Cutler revieWs & articLes: Lauren McGowan, Niki Kingsmill MeMBers at Large: Becca McFarlene, Katrina Rosekat, Emilie
Wong, Jessica Belanger

speciaL

thanks to: AJ West, Evans Adrian, Rachael Carr, Ani

Harroch, and FASA