Fresh! AIR October 2015: Laura Hale: Dialogue With Place
[gallery size="full" ids="3565,3564,3563"]EVENT: Open Studio, Allan Brooks Nature Centre, Thursday afternoon, October 29Drop-in from 2 - 6 pmThe Artist will conduct a walk-about at 4pmBring a friend and join Laura Hale, the last Fresh! AiR artist of the season at the Allan Brooks Nature Centre for a tour and discussion of her past and present works. Laura is visiting from Saskatchewan and has participated in numerous artist residencies and projects.
The Project
The focus of my residency will be site responsive, environmental, land art and installation. During the six week period I will explore, experiment and develop new ideas responding to the local landscape and culture.My work explores both outdoor ephemeral work and also more permanent artworks that combine textiles with organic materials.For my outdoor work I use natural, organic, biodegradable materials to create site-specific installations in the landscape. I explore the natural environment and talk with locals, other artists and environmentalists about regional habitat conservation issues.I scout, source and utilize select materials to create site responsive, ephemeral installation art. All artworks are documented during creation and also over time to capture the artworkʼs evolution back in to the environment from which it came. The installations would change daily and eventually evolve back into the landscape.I am also interested in exploring and developing my work in combining textiles with natural materials and using natural-based materials for the creation of more permanent artworks. All of the textile material that I will use is sourced locally and repurposed or second hand. Open studio times will facilitate interaction with the community so that opportunities are available to share and explore my art practice and the artwork. Depending on the materials sourced, a weekly studio drop in could be programmed where community members assist me in creating multiples that would be part of a larger collective piece.Time spent at the Caetani Cultural Centre and Allan Brooks Nature Centre will allow me the time and space to explore, interact, experiment and respond to the culture and landscape of the Okanagan Valley and the Greater Vernon region and to develop and create new artworks in reaction to location and the natural environment. The artwork and the process involved in creating it will deepencommunity awareness and understanding of not only my personal artistic practice but of land based art, encouraging contemplation and appreciation of the local environment and culture.[gallery ids="3498,3499,3500"]
Artist Statement
I was born and raised in rural Saskatchewan, “Land of the Living Skies”.The wide-open space and my rural work ethic has shaped and influenced my artistic expression, which is often process-based and labour intensive installation. I keep an ongoing, open dialogue with my environment and intentionally displace myself to seek encounters that not only influence my work but also forms it. I am interested in exploring my surroundings and producing work that animates the location and challenges the way we see familiar objects or places. I also have a love of textiles; labour intensive, traditional, domestic craft based work, and likes to combine textiles with natural and unusual materials.
About the Artist
Laura Hale is visual artist based from Saskatchewan. Her art practice includes public art, outdoor and indoor site-specific installation, temporary and ephemeral land art, object making and community-based projects.Her work often focuses on exploring and responding to location, landscape and the environment and the exploration, collection and sourcing of local and unique materials. By using and combining an eclectic range of art making materials her work comes together to create objects and experiences that animate and respond to location, increasing awareness of our surroundings and challenges the way we see familiar objects or places.She is inspired by Land Art in the use of the landscape and natural materials in the creation of the work; Craft Art by the practice and skill of making of things by hand; and by the Arte Povera movement in the use of unconventional, everyday materials to create objects and interactive experiences.Laura studied at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan and Emily Carr University in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has received several Saskatchewan Arts Board grants and a CARFAC Saskatchewan Emerging Artist award.
PAST WORK