Western Canada's art magazine since 2002
28 January 2020 Vol 5 No 2 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2020
From the Editor
Portia Priegert
Some people believe Canada’s favourite pastime is hockey, but I think we actually prefer complaining about the weather. And how the last few weeks have fuelled that passion.
Incredible drifts of snow buried houses in Newfoundland, frigid temperatures blasted the Prairies and even the West Coast was struggling. Here, in Victoria, where some cherry trees had bloomed in December, there was an equally unfathomable foot of snow.
I’m no sissy. As a child in Northern Alberta, I used to run without shoes through the snow drifts around my school. Later, I weathered a full month in which the temperature never topped 30 below. But I’ve fallen out of step with winter. I fell, ignominiously, in a parking lot slick with black ice. I came down hard, wrenched my left hip, and have been limping around since then.
As I write this note, I find myself wondering why Western Canadian galleries have so few shows about the weather, especially in a time of colossal fires, torrential floods and other mayhem. Where is the art about climate change?
Although I wasn't able to sit for long, I did manage to to edit this issue's stories about artists Renée Van Halm, Elizabeth Zvonar, Briana Palmer, Leah Kudel, Karina Bergmans and David Wojnarowicz.
Looking ahead, we are working on stories about several international artists with shows in the West – including Japanese ceramic artist Masaomi Yasunaga and American designer Mia Cinelli.
Keep warm until next time,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Stacey Abramson, Paul Gessell, John Thomson, Helena Wadsley