memory and narrative 2

My Life As A House
24" x 24"

This week the exhibition Memory and Narrative opens at Place des Artes, a public space in Coquitlam, BC. I recenty joined Leap Visual Arts Collective, a group of local artists who often exhibit together. This is the group statement for the show:

Few questions have a longer, deeper, and livelier intellectual history than how we 'construct' our lives--and, indeed, how we create ourselves in the process. What makes people want to preserve the stories of their past? What methods can be used to construct or package these narratives? Can memories offer different ways of looking at a past event? Or help us to re-remember and control its place in our lives? Can people's narrative accounts tell us something about their identity and lives?

Each artist agreed to create several works to match the theme, plus contribute to a group project. More about that one later.

I decided to paint three medium-sized house paintings for my personal contribution. Yesterday's post illustrates one, another is here, and this is the third. It illustrates a new house followed by some of its metamorhoses over the decades as it is renovated and/or neglected. If you can stand another artist's statement, here is my personal statement:

Memory and Narrative: Stories (the past)
Traditional and historical methods of recording and reconstructing the past have a strong relationship to place. In the past, one’s country, ‘hometown’, neighbourhood and dwelling place all played deeply important roles in the creation of identity and therefore memory during a time when travel and immigration were the exception rather than the rule. Unlike today, the family home could exist over many generations, with the expectation that it would continue to do so. A house with this kind of history is a place rich with family stories and memories. My fascination with painting early 20th century Vancouver houses stems from an interest in the layered, ‘storied’ nature of the histories within the walls of these houses.

If you happen to live in the Vancouver area, the opening reception is Thursday, October 5th at Place des Artes from 7:30 until 9:30.