Sandra Vida, WAY STATION, video, Stantec Tower, Edmonton, AB, 2023. Photo by Liisa Otchie.

The phrase “way station” is defined in dictionaries as an intermediate stopping place, a stopping point on a journey, or a place where people stop to eat and rest when they are on a long journey. 

Sandra Vida’s video work WAY STATION evokes the meanings associated with this phrase and takes viewers on a multi-layered, symphonic journey through an immersive polyphony of intersecting narratives and psychological landscapes. Exploring themes related to identity, ancestry, and cultural heritage, Vida generates nuanced and complex meanings for viewers to contemplate. Beginning with the title screen and accompanying words origins, explorations, and resolutions, the film conveys a sense of momentousness that is heightened by atmospheric music. Interwoven, overlaid images of rural landscape, nature, historical carvings, and ancient stone formations fade in and out, melding with images of a woman walking through a grassy field, picking up a suitcase as if she is embarking on a journey, and holding a decorative bowl.  

This first third of the film fades into the second third with contemplative instrumental music that accompanies images suggestive of domesticity and roles associated historically with women: making clothes, making bread, and weaving.  These evoke an idyllic existence that is shattered by discordant sounds and interwoven images of soldiers, explorers, warships, and ancient stone structures.  Through this, Vidal appears to subtly critique narratives of progress and nationalism that favour a positive trajectory defined by wars, monuments, and large-scale cultural achievements. 

However, these sounds and images fade quickly into the background and are taken over by the same atmospheric music that opened the film. Strongly suggestive echoes of mythology emerge within this final third of the film. A woman places stones into a formation, as if to create a memorial. In addition, the pouring of water from a pitcher into a cup and walking through the sea are images that connote rejuvenation, the giving of life, and unity with the natural environment. 

Vida’s atmospheric work affirms the persistence and resilience of alternative ways of being and knowing that fall outside conventional historical narratives as well as stories excluding women’s perspectives and experiences. Challenging linear narratives and ways of understanding that devalue the personal and domestic, Vida constructs empowering narratives that inhabit multiple times, histories, and geographies—all of which inform and re-shape each other continually within a fluid conception of time that melds the past, present, and future. 

Jonathan Monfries, CANOPY, Plywood, 2023, Churchill Square, Edmonton, AB. Photo by Melanie Andony.

The built environment in downtown Edmonton is replete with glassy office towers and concrete buildings and spaces such as Churchill Square, the site of this year’s The Works Art & Design Festival. Amidst the sterile and depersonalizing connotations associated with these human-made structures, Jonathan Monfries’ installation CANOPY injects evocations of the natural environment into these surroundings by providing a functional, yet aesthetically eye-catching, group of wooden structures for everyone to experience and enjoy. 

Viewers of Monfries’ five-piece installation may recall last year’s edition of The Works, in which Agatha Chacinski’s A Grasp for Love and Breanna Barrington’s Nature First Aid both explored the relationship between people and the natural environment. Monfries explores similar ideas but does so from a design perspective. His installation evokes images of leafy trees clustered within a forest clearing, with its wide bases suggestive of tree roots and cone-like structures resembling tree leaves that extend upwards towards the sky. Clustered together, these five pieces are identical and convey a sense of symmetry that is pleasing to see.  

CANOPY occupies a central, visible location in the middle of Churchill Square. At any particular moment, one will see patrons of all ages and backgrounds sit down. With its functional qualities, it may not be apparent to people that this is a festival installation. However, perhaps that is part of what Monfries achieves through this work—that artistry is not simply, nor does it have to be, delimited within conventional forms of creative expression that culminate in works of art. Instead, aesthetic qualities can emanate from creations such as CANOPY, which also include the potential for revitalizing collective public spaces. Offering a place for people to congregate, CANOPY is akin to a transition stop or urban oasis—a place for people to pause for a while, reflect, converse, or recharge before moving on. Extending beyond its original functionality, it becomes a locus for the continual affirmation of a shared community.

Veronika Marks, Sigils of Sovereignty, 2023, Churchill Square, Edmonton, AB. Photo by Liisa Otchie.

Engagement, reflection, and connection: these are some processes that drive Veronika Marks’ artistic practice. In her interactive performance Sigils of Sovereignty, Marks encourages possibilities for storytelling and community, through which she explores how art can facilitate opportunities for people to connect and heal.   

Although people may feel uncertain about what to expect, Marks’ friendly and open manner will put them at ease. Invited to join her circle, people are asked to reflect on what they may desire, or what is significant to them, and then to leverage these moments of reflection to create symbols of intentional mindfulness that may signify or signal towards a possible resolution.   

People can create their own sigils with the paper and markers that Marks provides. Depending on their life experience and background, people will take away something different from their experiences with Marks.  What her performance seems to reveal is how seemingly mundane and individualistic actions within a shared space can, collectively, facilitate the emergence of positive energies and new opportunities for interpersonal interactions.  While working on their sigils, people may converse as much or little as they wish with Marks, whatever makes them feel more comfortable.  Once people are finished, they are asked to drop their completed sigils into Marks’ container.  With the collected sigils, Marks will conduct a ritual performance in honour of the people who created them. 

Like Ryan Wispinski’s We Will ART YOU! in this year’s festival, Marks’ work emanates from a very personal place, through which she explores how art can function as a form of therapy and healing.  Motivated by interests in the mystical and spiritual, Marks is interested in exploring how negative experiences and energies can be channelled and transformed through acts of artistic creation into something positive, meaningful, and empowering. 

For people who have not experienced Veronika Marks’ performance yet, one more opportunity is available on Saturday, July 15th, from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm.  Marks can be found around Churchill Square’s northeast corner, near The Scream. 

Bushra Yousaf, Beauty of Nature, 2023, Oil on canvas, 30" x 48"

In the current global climate, debilitating forms of conflict and violence—stoked by cultural differences, economic disparities, regional tensions, and scarcity of resources—continue to impact communities around the world. Amidst these entrenched divisions, it can be challenging to maintain a sense of hope for the future. Bushra Yousaf’s intimate series of portrait paintings evoke optimism and encourage self-reflection by reminding us of our common humanity. Aptly entitled Humanity, Yousaf’s large-scale portraitures feature close-up views of individuals from different ages and backgrounds, each of whom exude their own unique personalities and appearances. As the person in each portrait gazes outward from the canvas, it creates the impression that they are looking directly at the viewers, thereby encouraging a sense of personal connection and engagement.

Notably, these individuals do not have any specific identifying markers in their appearance that may connect them with a specific community, geographical location, or cultural group. For example, Harmony of Hope: A Glimpse into Innocence depicts a young woman with red hair and a face that is coloured light blue, with a vivid, yellow streak of paint running across it. Similarly, in Radiant Resilience: Illuminating the Human Spirit, the woman’s presence is accentuated by the multitude of background colours that sweep across her face and the background behind her.

Displaying these portraits within City Hall imbues them with an additional resonance. Besides being a civic institution and public space, City Hall also signifies as a public space in which everyone is heard and represented and functions as a symbolic focal point for communal life. This is apt in relation to this exhibit, which also calls for unity around a shared sense of humanity. Yousaf’s series nurtures a genuine curiosity among viewers and invites them to consider the portrait subjects as unique, valued individuals in their own right whose presence deserves recognition. Various questions may come to mind: Who are they? What are their stories and experiences? What shapes them as people? They encourage viewers to engage with people in their own lives that originate from a place of respect, absent of assumptions and preconceptions, within which one not only speaks but also listens.

Ryan M. Wispinski, Gatekeepers - Acceptance, Mask pair – bark, jute hair, wild boar tusk, 2012. The Westin Edmonton, Photograph by Au7umn.

Born into a creative family, Ryan Wispinski learned to carve wood during his childhood and has since incorporated other mediums such as stone, paper, pen, and ink. His latest exhibit We Will ART YOU! features a large, intricate ink drawing and several attractive wood carvings that encourage people to take a closer look. As seen in works such as Bat in Fir, Red Shoulder Hawk, and Hunter, each of them contains intricate details that enhance their realism, also revealing the numerous hours of labour and care devoted to them.

Deep personal meaning and memories are associated with his works. For Wispinski, each act of artistic creation is an open-ended process of discovery and a fulfilling journey that viewers are invited to experience. It is never evident what path his new creations may take, although it may become clearer as his work progresses. However, there are instances, such as for Whiskey in the Coffee, in which the work may end up being something that is still in the creative process, that Wispinski may never feel is complete.

His evolving practice is characterized by an intuitive and meditative process that draws inspiration from various sources and life experiences. Functioning as a form of personal therapy, his creation of art also becomes a way to connect with people as well as reduce the societal stigma around mental illness. For example, he attaches great significance to Serpent and Mask as it has been a part of many life stories and exhibits over the years. For The Three Turtles, he worked on this piece over nine months, during which he lost a friend as well as others who have struggled with mental health issues.

Wispinski previously participated in The Works Art & Design Festival 2015, during which he invited the public to join him within his creative space while he worked. His current exhibit is available for viewing at the Westin Hotel until late August.