June 27 – July 26, 2014
Opening reception:
Thursday, June 26, 7-9pm
Demo: mould making
Saturday, July 5, 3-5pm
This exhibition of painting, sculpture and ceramic work focuses on bringing common everyday objects into an unfamiliar and mysterious realm. Ying-Yueh Chuang, Ben Lee and Nicola Tibbetts are all Capilano University art instructors and have the commonality of familiar objects such as food as inspiration in their art practice. They change the meaning of these objects either by transforming their use, physical shape, or by placing them in unexpected environments.
Mould making demo: Saturday, July 5, 3-5pm
Ben Lee and Nicola Tibbetts will be demonstrating different materials and techniques used in mould making to create an extraordinary object.
Artists:
Ying-Yueh Chuang creates ceramic hybrid forms inspired by organic material and imagined objects. Using a hands-on porcelain process the materials evolve into forms completely different from the initial object. Vegetables, fruits and bones are just a few of the forms that inspire her work. Trips to the grocery store become inspirational as she sees how colour, texture, and shape play off one another in an environment where they are displayed to best exemplify these qualities. Individual elements, common and recognizable are used like building blocks to create larger units of pattern. Ying-Yueh holds a MFA in Ceramics from NSCAD University in Halifax, NS and a BFA in Visual Arts from Emily Carr University.
Ben Lee is intimately familiar and passionate about the process of the lost wax method of bronze casting. He merges ancient techniques and contemporary analysis in his new sculpture series Heavy Metal Vegetables. By combining delicate and intricate vegetables with barbell weights in bronze he changes the meaning and use of all materials involved. What emerges is strange and humorous highbreds. Ben holds a BFA from Concordia University in Montreal and Sculpture and Printmaking Diplomas from Capilano University.
Nicola Tibbetts uses objects from her surroundings in her paintings, in particular foods, and places them into environments where they take on unexpected roles. In her recent paintings foods are given character traits and placed into landscapes where they interact with each other as actors would in a play. A melting ball of cheese for example becomes a sex-hungry young man while a bundle of asparagus takes on the role of a corseted fresh-faced woman. Nicola holds an MFA Fine and Media Arts from the Nova Scotia Collage of Art and Design University and a BFA in Studio Arts from Concordia University in Montreal.