Holly Ward: humynatur3

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Holly Ward, "Another Green World," 2018

Opening reception: May 17, 6-8PM

humynatur3 explores the dissolution of nature-culture distinctions as emergent in the Anthropocene, a new geological era wherein human activity has influenced the course of all non-human systems, towards unprecedented outcomes. In this context, hierarchical classifications distinguishing between biological organisms, environmental processes and ‘animal’ vs. human pursuits are dissolved, creating the ‘Terra Incognita’ of a radically unknowable future.

Utilizing the gallery space as a laboratory, sculptural assemblages and 2D works explore themes of mutation, acceleration, extinction and evolution. These real-time material investigations acknowledge the contemporary event horizon of radical change while seeking to build conceptual frameworks for responsive reckoning and strategies of collective world-building.

Currently based in Kelowna BC, Holly Ward is an interdisciplinary artist working with sculpture, multi-media installation, architecture, video and drawing as a means to examine the role of aesthetics in the formation of new social realities. She has had solo shows across Canada and abroad, and participated in group exhibitions in Canada, Chile, England, Mexico, the US, Norway and South Korea. Recent publications include Volumes (Blackwoods Gallery, 2015), Every Force Evolves a Form (Artspeak, 2012), and ‘For Now, on Holly Ward’s Persistence of Vision’, a critical essay in Jeff Derksen’s After Euphoria (JRP Ringier Press, 2013). Ward’s work has been collected by the Vancouver Art Gallery, Fogo Island Arts, and Scotiabank.