Yukon Artists @ Work ([email protected]) continues to host the Artists in the Window series through to the first week of September. At the time of writing this, five artists had completed their stints in the window, making interesting artworks, as well as conversations and connections.
Marie-Hélène Comeau turned the front windows of [email protected] into a mock real estate office, pinning up images of the houses that have disappeared from downtown Whitehorse since 2009, eliciting memories from visitors to inform the paintings of houses she’s making for a shared show with Virginie Hamel in November in the solo show room at Yukon Artists @ Work.
Leslie Leong followed her, making a ball gown of milk jugs using pop rivets, as part of her environmentally-informed art practice which includes championing the reuse of materials.
Lillian Loponen shared stories of her long career as a Yukon artist including her time in Keno City as she created a series of portraits on her tablet, as part of a course to develop skill not only in portraiture but in the Procreate app.
Then Dennis Shorty came in from Ross River with his partner, Jennifer Froeling. He worked in copper and antler, and attracted many visitors, including fellow Indigenous artist Mark Preston, and others.
Amber Church, fresh back from paddling the Hart River, demonstrated the way she uses art to blend her admiration of beautiful Canadian landscapes with her knowledge of the forces that threaten those environments.
We were able to host non-members Shorty and Church because of support from Yukon Arts Fund and Music Yukon. We were part of the adaptation of the Arts in the Park to COVID-19 realities. Window artists also attended the Arts in the Park finale at Shipyards Park. The sunshine and music made it feel like a music festival. The group of artists demonstrating and exhibiting their work added a high note to that festival vibe. Loponen, Shorty and Froeling, Comeau, Church, and Dee Bailey all came out. Bailey was the artist in the window the first week of August, exploring different kinds of clay for her three-dimensional painting practice, as well as her new sculptural works.
Beginning August 11, Martha Jane Ritchie will be relief printing in the window with a rice paddle, exploring how to recreate her exhibition postponed last spring, contrasting different kinds of solitudes. Ritchie spent four and a half months last winter at the Ted Harrison Artists’ Retreat near Carcross. Out of this time of chosen isolation and work, Ritchie planned three exhibitions. Then COVID-19 struck. Only the exhibition at Arts Underground saw the light of day.
Ritchie’s show at the [email protected] gallery has been rescheduled for October 2020. She will spend her time in the window mulling over how to adapt it to our changing times. Come talk with Ritchie about your experiences as she prints and plans Tuesday to Saturday, 11-2 pm. You can also register for a Zoom artist talk with her, Thursday August 13 at 6:30 pm. Drop by [email protected], call 393 4848, or email [email protected] to register.
The following week, Chelsea Ravensdale will be carving in the window or in the tent outside. She hopes to bring some pieces to completion that she’s been working on for a long time. Ravensdale plans to install a larger picture-carving created in antler. This is a larger piece of antler than she usually works with, about two feet wide and a foot and a half tall. For this demonstration, she will be using a foredom, which is a heavy-duty, more versatile version of a dremel.
Ravensdale will be demonstrating in the Yukon Artists @ Work window August 19-21, 11-2 pm. You can also register for a Zoom artist talk with her, Thursday August 20 at 6:30 pm.
You can see her work featured in the window until Monday August 25. Watch for Jackie Irvine painting in the window starting August 26. The Artists in the Window series continues until September 4, with Jeanine Baker the first week of September.
For more information, please contact Nicole Bauberger, 668 1577, or [email protected]
