Alison James

Winnipeg artist uses screen prints and stop-motion animation to reflect on how and what we remember.

by

I often worry about periodic lapses when seemingly small points from the past push into my mind, while memories of supposedly key events in my life are blurred. 

I recall the crinkle of Grandma Hatha’s seersucker shirts and how the fabric shifted as she moved through her small apartment or the strange fold of skin that formed on my younger brother’s forehead when he cried as a child, but fail to recall major birthdays or pivotal conversations.

Why do we hold onto certain memories and lose others? Alison James explores this and other curious mysteries about how we remember in her solo show, The In-Betweens, on view at Winnipeg’s Martha Street Studio until Dec. 5. 

The show opens with five of the Winnipeg artist’s looped stop-motion animations. Made using screen-printed papercut figures and sets, the shorts – Cut, Breathe and Clench from 2015, as well as Glare and Bite from 2019 – are projected onto the gallery wall. 

A freckled face bites into an equally flecked strawberry shortcake ice cream bar in Bite, hypnotising through its rhythm, while a child’s hand snips a dangling lock of hair. James constructs these repeating visuals, inviting visitors to sit and reflect on similar events from their lives.

“When recalling a memory, it is impossible to conjure a perfectly preserved experience,” James, who holds a BFA from the University of Manitoba, says in her artist statement. “Rather, we reconstruct the past from a personal present, introducing errors and imbuing the memory with our present-day mood, values and outlook on life.

“I meditate on memory reconstruction through screen printing: a highly deliberate technique that involves composing an image, deconstructing it to create layers, then reassembling it through the printing process. Animation breathes life into these constructions, seeking to conjure the elusive core of the memory – emotion.”

The In-Betweens also reveals the intricacies of James’ process. The treatment of her media – cut paper, ink and moveable parts – has a certain nostalgia. Visible brass fasteners act as joints connecting soft-hued limbs set against layers of muted, delicately cut backgrounds that set the scene. 

The patience and dedication James’ work requires is astounding. Each frame of the five animations was exquisitely screen-printed to yield rare quality and effect. The animation of the eyes alone took over 70 frames.  

One great thing that Martha Street Studio, an artist-run printmaking centre, does with many of its shows is to make visible the processes and experimentation behind the work on display. In doing so, the artistic process that is so critical and fascinating to witness is both demystified and honoured. 

James makes one think deeply about memory in a digital era that’s vehemently reliant on images. The personal episodic memories she evokes do not conform to the life scripts documented in her family’s archive.Yet she makes this individual space universal, inviting us into her work and prompting us to wonder about the images we select from the Rolodex in our own brains. 

The In-Betweens gently reminds us that small moments from our personal histories can both connect and confuse us.  ■

Alison James: The In-Betweens is on view at Martha Street Studio in Winnipeg from Nov. 1 to Dec. 5, 2019.

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Martha Street Studio

11 Martha St, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 1A2

204-779-6253

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