"Domestic Interventions"

North Vancouver Community Arts Council presents Domestic Interventions from October 17 – November 15, 2014. Opening reception: Thursday, October 16, 7-9pm.

Through distinctive installations, sculptures, paintings, mixed media and textiles, three accomplished artists explore domesticity, roles and identity.

Artists: Monique Motut-Firth, Janet Wang, Carlyn Yandle.

Monique Motut Firth’s installation of paper dolls suggests an alternative timeline of the changing Canadian ideal in the form of a relentless stream of changing figures from one immigrant woman’s lifetime. The massive paper-doll chain allows viewers to travel through the decades before direct marketing shifted from ink on paper to digital. This works presents a chance to physically engage with that bombardment of repetitive, idealized images. Monique lives in Vancouver and holds a BA with a Major in Psychology, (UBC) and a BFA (ECUAD).

Janet Wang’s drawings and paintings reference traditional methods and patterns in an exploration of current issues of social identity. In these works, Wang integrates her drawing and painting with textile and new media as she engages the viewer with themes on competing roles and labour, both domestic and manufactured. Her self-portraits create a dialogue between historical archetypes and the construction of a contemporary femininity. Janet Wang resides in North Vancouver and holds a BFA (UBC) and an MFA, from the University of Leeds.

Carlyn Yandle draws on her skills in various hand-making methods to create works that transcend their original function – actual or assumed – by recasting them with a new use. A sweater becomes cold comfort as it transforms the wearer into a marketing tool while it picks at appropriation issues. A braided rug is rendered useless by its concentric ripples, created in response to a devastating tsunami. Carlyn lives in Vancouver and holds a BA with a Major in Sociology (UVIC), and a BFA (ECUAD).

Interactive Community Component:

Dirty Laundry You are invited to share an anonymous ‘domestic confession’ and air it on a ‘community laundry line’ in the gallery. This activity acts as a reality check to the overwhelmingly self-promotional social media, an alternative social connectivity, a catharsis that comes from the 'airing out.