JP Robinson: ArtSync Interview on Opening night march 5, 2011

John Paul Robinson has recently been interviewed by ArtSync about the exhibition "New Work" which will be on exhibit here at KWTcontemporary from March 5 - 26, 2011. You can watch the interview in which Robinson speaks about the themes in his work: time, space, nature, science and personal mythologies, here.

“The work in this new series explores the connections between the sublime nature of natural phenomena, the subconscious, and the fields of physics and biology.  The pieces themselves are part of a set of metaphorical symbols that I am building to describe my experience, my place, and my life, to myself.”

Born in 1954 in Toronto, Ontario, John grew up in cottage country 2 hours north of the city. He was first introduced to glass while studying Child Care at Georgian College, Barrie, Ontario. In 1980, after working with children and then alcoholics for 6 years, he built his first glass studio with a friend, who had studied glass at Georgian. In 1982 he was hired by the Ontario College of Art, Toronto, where he worked as a glass studio technician and instructor until 1998. His work has been exhibited internationally, and is represented in public collections such as the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Museum of American Glass. John is presently living, working and teaching in Montreal.

Lauren Nurse: "you are my mirror": Feb 5 to 26, 2011

Lauren Nurse interviewed by Tali Dundin at KWT Contemporary on February 5th, 2011 (later aired on ArtSync)

Click here to watch the interview

"Cultural perceptions of nature have always held a certain amount of anxiety, and have spawned numerous myths, legends and fables.  These narratives expose culture’s uneasy relationship with the natural world.  For example, the figure of the werewolf is the ultimate symbol for the transgression between human and animal, and fears about being consumed are embodied in the figure of the vampire.  I believe that looking closely at these legends provides a key to understanding the culture that produced them. In viewing the monstrous body as a metaphor for the cultural body, I consider the mythic as a symbolic expression of the cultural unease that pervades a society and shapes its collective behavior. 
Previous works of mine have revolved around the idea of collisions between nature and culture - passing comment on some of the ways in which we see nature as existing outside of culture and society, yet simultaneously influencing the ways in which we live. 

The new body of work that I am exhibiting synthesizes my previous interest in the modern separation and opposition between culture and nature, and my current interest in locating the mythological/uncanny in evocations of the ‘wild’.  I am interested in the dissolution of boundaries between categories, ideas, and objects, the tension between inside and outside, and the intersections that occur when borders of the body become fluid and porous." -Lauren Nurse (2011)

Pearls. Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper. edition of five, framed. 2009

Svava Thordis Juliusson: "Saman Safnast": Feb 5 to 26, 2011

Svava Thordis Juliusson interviewed by Tali Dundin at KWT Contemporary on February 5th, 2011. (later aired on ArtSync).

click here to watch the interview

Juliusson is interested in using and manipulating traditional sculpture techniques and various non-traditional sculpture materials to express her concerns and ideas. The studio investigations, which often commence at the kitchen table or the laundry room, tend to oscillate between curiosity and the desire to articulate a response to her surroundings.

Current investigations, such as Horizon Orange, are part of a recent shift in her art practice. While still wanting to respond to larger events and domestic situations, the works are executed with a more intuitive approach to material and are primarily composed of plastic such as the cable ties, or safety fencing. These materials are designed for a specific purpose, but once manipulated, or re-purposed, the elements as a new whole, have the potential to become something else, something perhaps found in a natural environment like a cloud or a landmass.

Brad Copping: Reverse Osmosis

Brad Copping interviewed by Tali Dundin in the December 10th, 2010 airing of ArtSync on the occasion of the opening reception for "Reverse Osmosis". Click on picture to watch interview.

"When I am working on a piece, I will start with an initial idea, thought, or vision and the work is honed in the process of making. I will constantly ask questions regarding my next step, if I use this material or this technique, how will it affect the piece, will it clarify or confuse what I’m hoping to achieve. Or will it possibly take it somewhere I did not think of, and hopefully that is a place where the process enlightens me. The work in this exhibition is a retrospective of sorts, a filtered view of some of the larger scale work that I have made. It is an opportunity to apply a similar process to building the exhibition to the one I use when making the individual pieces. All of this work makes reference to water. Water not only roots us and links us to a place – intensifying our relationship to the land, it also conveys us to different places, connecting us to one another. It is a large portion of what we are, what all life is, and that too connects us to the natural world whether we want to admit it or not. These pieces reflect my continuing search for balance and connectedness between people, people and place, and finally within people themselves." - Brad Copping

Raindays (detail), hotworked and carved glass, glass tubing, wood, metal leaf, brass. 2001. 124 x 12 x 12 cm ;

Portage. hotworked and carved glass, wood. 1999. 46 x 148.5 x 48.5 cm;

Seep. hot worked glass, wood. 2007. 183 H x 173 W x 12 D cm.

Pearl Van Geest : But this is not a place of words

View Art Sync's interview with Pearl here.

Click on above link to view Pear Van Geest's interview with Micheal Hansen for Art Sync for the exhibition "But This Is Not a Place of Words" which ran from November 6 - 27, 2010.

Pearl Van Geest is interested in questions that arise about the nature of reality and the natural world, our connection to it, and the place of painting within this context. She is compelled by diverse sources: visual, literary philosophical and scientific. In her work, paint is used to explore these questions and ideas. Kiss marks are used as an abstract mark, for their mutable symbolic significance and also because they have a morphological similarity to other natural forms.

Neurartic: Pearl Van Geest: A Love Affair with Paint

" She paints with the sort of id-soaked, primary process-driven intensity often associated with "intuitive" or "outsider" art. However, she and her paintings are far from naive: she is a broadly educated, well traveled person, and a highly skilled, technically adept painter."

Pool, 2007. Oil on canvas. 72″ × 72″;

Cherries in the Snow, 2002. Oil and lipstick on canvas. 72″ × 72″;

Pool, 2007. Oil on canvas. 72″ × 72.