November 30th, 2016 § § permalink
You guys! I am very much looking forward to my second workshop with Navillus Gallery on Saturday, December 10th!
Workshop Date: December 10, 1pm
Price: $30 (visa/mastercard)
Contact: (416) 921-6467
inquire@navillusgallery.com
110 Davenport Road, Toronto, ON
We will be using the same material I used to sculpt the daffodils in my MSR series. Participants will each receive a gold frame with a hand marbled paper and a name of his or her choice written in gold (a personal holiday gift!). Together, we will adorn our frames with flora and finish the sculptures with a small selection of beautiful pigments.
Each participant will receive a frame, a piece of marbled paper with gold calligraphy, pigment and two containers of apoxie sculpt. When RSVPing, please let the gallery know the name or word you would like.
-Christie
November 20th, 2016 § § permalink
Dolce Vita is a gorgeous magazine that curates a luxury lifestyle guide for the good life. Among their features on fashion, home decor and travel, Reflect: Tropic is their exclusive web article! Check out the link to see some pictures from opening night.
Until December 16th, you can also drop by the gallery to pick up your free copy of Dolce Mag!
-Christie
November 18th, 2016 § § permalink
I would like to thank everybody who came out to the opening last night of REFLECT: TROPIC. I was so touched by all the support and notes of encouragement. I am also thrilled and incredibly honoured that the show is on the Beautiful Bizarre homepage today! Beautiful Bizarre is a quarterly available worldwide featuring emerging artists who redefine “new” contemporary art and that is of course, beautifully bizarre.
The exhibition will run until December 16th. We also plan on hosting a workshop on December 10th and I will update soon with the details.
Please click the photo below for a direct link to the post!
-Christie
November 16th, 2016 § § permalink
REFLECT:TROPIC opens tomorrow! Come and enjoy wine and art at Navillus Gallery (110 Davenport Road) from 6-8pm. The exhibition will run until December 16th.
This guy is a monster! At four feet wide, he is my biggest ink painting yet.
detail:
-Christie
November 10th, 2016 § § permalink
We uses mirrors to understand reality, ourselves and animals. In 1970, Gordon G. Gallup developed the mirror self-recognition test (MSR) to determine if humans were the only beings with a concept of self. Animals were presented with a mirror before and after their skin was marked with a red dot. If an animal interacted with the red dot on itself, the test indicated it understood the mirrored image belonged to his or her own body. The only bird with this ability is the eurasian magpie.
What is interesting about the study on magpies is the discovery that self-recognition does not necessarily reside in the neocortex area of the brain. Unlike mammals, magpies do not have a neocortex and have independently evolved their impressive cognitive abilities.
We measure intelligence and consciousness according to our own cognitive capabilities and vision, our primary sense. A mirror is only the skin of reality. In this series, I adorn a mirror with narcissi, or daffodils. Its namesake is shared with the word, narcissism, and Narcissus, a hunter from Greek mythology who fell in love with his own reflection.
Among the daffodils, a bird gazes into its own reflection. In our interpretation, however, the bird cannot see itself. In my series, the skin is covered with the silver peel of a mirror, effectively erasing the bird’s face and body in the reflection. Animal minds and their experience of reality are as mysterious as the realm behind a mirror. In this series, the birds escape our bias in their erasure.
*The mirror with the eurasian magpie is the only bird in the series without silver leaf because it passed the MSR.
Cockatiel:
Hummingbird:
Please check back soon as I plan to do a post featuring the birds in 360 degrees!
-Christie
November 3rd, 2016 § § permalink
I have been preparing for my third show at Navillus Gallery!
press-release
Opening Reception:
November 17th
6-8pm
110 Davenport Road
One of the two series I will be exhibiting is The Replicators. While hiking through Tortugera National Park, I was impressed with the variety of plant species and their many survival solutions, particularly the epiphytes. These plants survive many feet off the air, growing on top of branches of large trees.
Since the series began four years ago, I have been inspired by other gardens exhibiting wild growth and patterns. Coral, crystals, flowers and ferns are some of the forms that I abstract and synthesize in this new chapter. These pieces are a meditation on how replicators bloom, mutate, wither and spread. I am especially touched by their perseverance and potential.
RAINFOREST:
detail images
OCEAN:
detail images
CAVE:
detail images
FOREST:
detail images
-Christie
