Joanne Gervais & Shauna Oddleifson: Sea Dreams

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Joanne Gervais & Shauna Oddleifson, "Sea Dreams," 2022

The first exhibition to take place in the Project Gallery, our new programming space, is Sea Dreams, a collaboration by local artists Joanne Gervais and Shauna Oddleifson.

Sea Dreams is an animated tale that tells a story of a little girl character wearing an octopus mask and her interactions with sea-creatures, underwater plant life and the impact of human negligence. With increasing temperatures brought about by climate change, and the accumulation of plastics, the health of the oceans is under threat. With this work, the artists reference the effect we have on our environment, and how the way we interact with nature can have consequences. 

Shauna Oddleifson’s work is subversive in nature, containing deranged visuals and a schizophrenic sense of humour, appropriating from our childhood desires and patterns of thought. Her work affixes a subtext narrative to a common object or idea in order to provoke a societal response. Her conceptual and creative practice centres on the character of the little girl and her growth through living in the world with other people, creatures and environments.

Shauna Oddleifson graduated from UBC Okanagan (previously OUC) in 1998 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, graduating with distinction. Since graduating, she has been involved with the arts community in Kelowna working in galleries as well as volunteering with various arts organizations and special events. Shauna has a studio practice, both art and craft-based, and has exhibited work throughout the Okanagan as well as in various artist-run centres and galleries across Canada.

Joanne Gervais' work looks at the role memory plays in the formation of identity and how the arrangement of imagery, video, sound and motion can be used to depict the non-linear nature of nostalgia and its capacity to imaginatively restructure past narratives. Her work often references and suggests alternative perceptions of these narratives.

Joanne Gervais is an interdisciplinary artist based in Kelowna, BC. Her practice ranges from documentaries, promotional videos, and performance collaborations to print, drawing and design. Joanne holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies from UBC where she now works.

The collaboration of these artists has led to a new installation of works based on their intersecting interest in nostalgia, and their desire to combine their different mediums as a means of further investigating the impact of memory and imagination.