The Topography of Bodily Sentiments
to
The New Gallery 208 Centre Street SE, Calgary, Alberta T2G 2B6
Kasia Sosnowski, "2016, SELF!HELP!," 2018
ceramic
Artists / Ambivalently Yours, Kablusiak, Rachel Livedalen and Kasia Sosnowski.
Writer / May G N
Reception / Friday, November 9 @ 6PM
Exhibition Description
“The Topography of Bodily Sentiments” exists at the convergence of four practices, each ethically entangled with bodies host to precarious labels. Denying simple synthesis, instead opting for tactics of revision and re-envisioning, the discreet methods and aesthetic concerns of the artists — Ambivalently Yours, Kablusiak, Rachel Livedalen, and Kasia Sosnowski — stand apart from one another. The linkage in the exhibit lies somewhere in between; a unifying disenfranchisement, stemming from the socio-cultural forces that seek to shape their bodies, erase their voices, or distort their outputs. “The Topography of Bodily Sentiments” is a site for the reaffirmation of identity, the connection of the emotional to the physical, and the resistance of bodies in the face of oblique, ever-changing, and often contradictory standards.
Biographies Under the pseudonym Ambivalently Yours, this Montreal-based artist explores ambivalence within a multimedia web-based practice inspired by her feminist questions and online interactions. Her work aims to highlight the potential for political resistance and emotional empathy that exists within conflicting emotions. Her meticulous online engagement as Ambivalently Yours has resulted in a large social media following and her interactions with her online community directly influence and participate in her practice. Her work has been exhibited in North America, Europe and Australia, shared virally online and featured prominently in media publications, teenage blogs and zines worldwide.
Kablusiak is an Inuvialuk artist and curator based in Alberta and holds a BFA in Drawing from the Alberta College of Art and Design. They recently completed the Indigenous Curatorial Research Practicum at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Kablusiak uses art and humour as a coping mechanism to address cultural displacement. The lighthearted nature of their practice extends gestures of empathy and solidarity; these interests invite a reconsideration of the perceptions of contemporary Indigeneity. Kablusiak is a board member of Stride Gallery (2016-present). Awards include the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Young Artist Prize (2017) and the Primary Colours Emerging Artist Award (2018). They have recently shown work at Art Mûr as part of the Biennale d’art contemporain autochtone (2018) and at the Athens School of Fine Arts as part of the Platforms Project (2018). Kablusiak, along with three other Inuit curators, will be creating the inaugural exhibition of the new Inuit Art Centre in 2020.
Rachel Livedalen grew up in Texas, North Carolina, and Virginia. She earned her BA in Studio Art and Art History from the University of Virginia. Upon completion of her degree, Rachel was awarded the Aunspaugh Fellowship from the University of Virginia to continue her creative research on campus. In 2014 Rachel graduated with an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Iowa. Rachel Livedalen is currently an Assistant Professor of Art at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. She has held this position since 2014 and heads the printmaking area. Rachel exhibits her interdisciplinary work widely with recent solo exhibitions in Dallas, Tallahassee, and Kansas City. She also recently received a 2017-2018 Kala Fellowship Award from the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, CA and was accepted into the 2018 Artist Program at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, PA. Her creative research explores contemporary femininity through the lens of past histories and mythologies. Rachel Livedalen is represented by Erin Cluley Gallery in Dallas, TX.
Kasia Sosnowski is originally from Calgary, Alberta - she moved to Lethbridge in 2007. She graduated with honours from the University of Lethbridge with a Bachelor of Fine Arts-Art History and Museum Studies, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts-Art Studio in 2014. She moved to Banff in 2014 where she worked at The Banff Centre as a Preparatorial Practicum at the Walter Phillips Gallery. After completing her year contract as a practicum she participated in the Banff Centre’s Late Fall BAiR program where she began exploring ceramics. She now lives and works in Lethbridge, Alberta where she maintains her art practice.