Roy Caussy: Only the Losers

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Roy Caussy, "Only the Losers," 2019

Artist Talk with Roy Caussy October 17th, 2019 at 6PM

Roy Caussy’s exhibition "Only the Losers" presents an interpretation of the artist’s experiences of living and working in Southern Alberta. Having been informed by the prairie landscape, the disparate peoples and histories, and the many layers of culture existing one on top of the other, such as the prehistoric seas, the establishment of the largest Nazi POW camps in North America, waves of settlers and cowboys, and extractive industries — which is related to the ‘meth’ epidemic currently affecting these communities. Caussy’s experiences and observations have been reformulated into a series of sculptures and drawings. How do we negotiate the histories and sediments of this landscape that inform the larger social, political, and economic climate we find ourselves in today?

Using objects cast from both found and original ceramic moulds, painted with colours referencing Hindu mythology, and with an underpinning of childlike playfulness, Roy Caussy attempts to scrutinize the ways that we are formed and informed by the histories of the land. It is both a version of history and a historiography — thinking about what kind of story we tell, and how we tell the story of our past and present, while also reflecting on why a certain group of immigrants are welcomed while another group is rejected. As we see the knee-jerk rise of radical conservatism and an urgent climate crisis, Caussy’s work questions and traces the current reality to a series of past events and developments.

Roy Caussy was born in Hamilton, ON, is currently based out of Medicine Hat. He received his BFA (2006) from NSCAD University in Halifax, NS and his MFA (2015) from the University of Lethbridge. Caussy has completed artist-in-residence programmes in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario, as well as participating in numerous group shows across Canada. In 2009, Caussy completed a six-month research term in India and Mauritius. He has received grants from the City of Vancouver and The Canada Council for the Arts.