Lisa Lipton is a multi-disciplinary artists whose work ranges from sculptural textile to video to musical performancne. She holds an MFA from Windsor University and a BFA from NSCAD. For her residency, Lipton proposed a project entitled
You can take my bicycle. It is a multi-media based endeavor that investigates the psychological anxieties, which may come to pass, when regarding notions such as life and death, love and loss, whether or not one should move forward or regress, find focus in the present or the past. Lipton probes the mindset or mental space of those who reach an elderly age and face severe reflection upon their own mortality - the reality of his/her depleting physical body, which confirms his/her immanent death, as well as the grief which continually resides over loves lost both within and beyond of ones lifetime.
During her residency, Lipton knit a full-scale human suit (skin, clothes, shoes) to create a wearable human costume for the main character of the work:
Bob. A musical performance was orchestrated by Lipton and videotaped to be included in the eventual presentation of the work. In the finished piece, Lipton envisages a performance where a performer wearing the Bob suit pedals a stationery bicycle that powers a projection of the musical performance. Lipton’s reflection on loss, beauty, sorrow and love speak to the universal human condition.
Eleanor King is an interdisciplinary artist who works with site-specific installations incorporating elements of audio, video, photography, and sculpture. Her work fuses found materials in a playful way to critique social behaviours, while investigating consumer and tourist cultures. King's work has been showcased across Canada, as well as internationally moreover, she has participated in residency programs both in Canada and the US. Eleanor teaches in the Media Arts department at NSCAD University and holds the position of Exhibitions Cooridinator at Anna Leonowens Gallery.
As one of the featured artists in the current exhibition Sometimes Always, King's presence at the AGNS as Artist-in-Residence is an appropriate fit. Her new installation, Obsolecents, has been created specifically for Sometimes Always. In this piece, King has fashioned a wondrous junk emporium from surplus objects creating, among other sensations, organic sculptures in the form of stacked discarded items. The installation also includes carefully arranged obsolete media, collections of old equipment, and audio-video elements. The artist has arranged these components within the space to create an atmosphere of ordered clutter, which she hopes will raise questions about the media objects we chose to consume and discard. King views the recent trend toward environmentalism and conservation as a promising sign of an end to society's wasteful mentality. This installation, although dealing with somewhat grave environmental concerns, still manages to be playful, beautiful, and a delight for gallery visitors to engage with.
In Harper's work, his passion for the wild unites synergistically with a keen interest in technique. His sculptures, even those small in scale, have weight and presence. His vision for The Last to Win was huge, both lofty and ambitious: a full-scale horse, crafted here in the AGNS Artist-in-Residence studio. Although Harper's desire to create a horse of this stature pre-dates the AGNS residency, the project appropriately coincided with the run of a Joe Fafard retrospective and gave Harper license for a larger scale. Narrative plays a significant role in Harper's practice as he weaves stories and histories for his animals. Through sculpture and embroidery Harper brings the inside out: he shaves and peels back protective coverings to reveal softly stitched bones and organs. With a sense of reverence and care, he finds ways to celebrate the spirit of the animals he recreates, aware of the delicate balance between the natural world and human intervention.
Originating from Saskatoon, now living in Halifax Graeme Patterson’s practice stems from a self developed approach to creating stop-motion animation. This “do it yourself” method is consistent in all facets of his production. Since graduating from NSCAD in 2002 his projects can be described as sculptural installations consisting of video, robotics, audio, music, and some interactive components. Generally he works in miniature using a 1:10 scale which originates from childhood. His installations attempt to bring the viewer in to the world of play Graeme exists in while creating his stop-motion animations. From 2004 - 2007 he created a large body of work entitled Woodrow. This 10 piece installation encompasses all aspects of his practice. All of his work is based on personal memories and life experience with a mix of fantasy and surrealism. Currently Graeme is working towards another 3 - 4 year project focusing on finding and renewing his ties with a long lost friend from his childhood. Much like Woodrow Graeme will be traveling and plans to take temporary residence in Japan to create connections between his memories and reality.
Graeme Patterson is one of five Canadian artists currently being considered for the 2009 Sobey Art Award. The winner is to be announced October 15, 2009.