Past Exhibition

Art on Demand 2.1

Artists Sarah Nielsen & Jenny Hawkinson and Curated by Chantal New
Jun 16, 2016
to
Jul 17, 2016
EXHIBITION

Art on Demand 2.1 presents “In the House of My Pilgrimage”, an adaptation of an exhibition presented by Jenny Hawkinson and Sarah Nielsen in Alert Bay, BC in 2015. This selection of works explores the various ways we think about the concept home.

Emotional attachment to place is an inevitable part of the human experience. The physical spaces and geographical locations that shape our life experiences are vital to our understanding of our past and present identities. Hawkinson and Nielsen’s depictions of floathomes and ocean discards evoke a sense of home that many would associate with the ocean and the West Coast of British Columbia. The artist’s work embodies this tangible West Coast atmosphere and challenges our understanding of what we consider home.

The notion of home encompasses more then a physical place. Home is connected to family, memories, personal safety and a sense of belonging. The artists do not shy away from the complexities of this term. Nielsen’s broken snail shells explore the intrinsic connection between ourselves and our homes, and the vulnerability that this can create. The shells also allude to the abandonment and brokenness some associate with home. Hawkinson’s embroidered handkerchiefs capture the sentimentality of the comforts of family and home. However, the artist complicates this sense of familiarity by embroidering words like homesick and homeboy into these quasi-heirlooms presenting us with the paradoxes surrounding the term. In her exploration of floathomes, Hawkinson suggest that home is not stagnant, but instead a transient place. Challenging the fixed quality of more conventional homes, Hawkinson documents the transforming nature of housing and communities in BC while reflecting on her personal journey of relocating to new communities.

In their artistic explorations, Hawkinson and Neilsen offer us personal and nuanced interpretations of the notion of home, while encouraging us to consider the universal significance of this concept.

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