By: Heather Savard, Volunteer Administration Assistant.

I never knew the Works Art and Design Festival existed before applying to its internship program. Then, on my first day of work I missed the house completely. I walked willfully past its location on 106a Ave, and I reached 107 Ave confused. Squinting at Google maps, I executed a swift pivot, hoping the house would appear on my second pass. Thankfully it did, and seeing the steel sculptures out front the red and yellow building confirmed it.This is to say that both the internship and its location surprised me, and my placement as Volunteer Assistant continues to reveal the unexpected.

For instance, I did not expect a local restaurant owner to want to donate to an Art and Design Festival because he had previously trained as an opera singer, and I was delighted to hear about a volunteer’s experience taking silversmithing classes. These moments of discovery have become a favourite part of my job. I am constantly surprised with how people interact and want to be involved in art. My preconceived expectations are being challenged and rebuilt.

On that note, we hosted a volunteer recruitment barbecue at The Works on Wednesday evening. The afternoon was spent putting up streamers, balloons, tents and hoping the weather would cooperate. The wind kept loosening the tape we used to anchor the streamers, and a couple trips up the ladder were made to secure them. We also had a painting activity set up in the corner, and I had seen one of the images to be painted, which was clearly was a cassette tape: a rectangle with twin center circles and lines depicting the classic grooves. At the end of evening, I saw a volunteer painting that image and firmly connected it to a set of piano keys, collaged alongside a speaker. When I realized it was the same image that I had been convinced was a cassette tape, it transformed before my eyes. As the festival unfolds and we only get busier, I am pretty sure it’s not the last time I will expect cassette tapes and end up with pianos.

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About the author: Heather Savard is an interdisciplinary artist based in Edmonton. She first attended the University of Alberta where she completed a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology in 2016. She then moved to Halifax, where from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, she obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies. During her time at NSCAD, she was nominated for the International Sculpture Center Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award in 2018 and her work Family Portrait, is currently on display at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. 

By: Haylee Fortin, Curatorial Assistant.

Image: Drawing by the author Haylee Fortin

Without access to a car, I do a lot of walking. In this process of moving, a physical connection is created between body and place. Walking can be meditative, energizing, challenging and rewarding. As the act of walking translates distance into time, sights seen, sounds heard and energy spent, it imparts an appreciation for what exists between point A and point B. However, with the advent of digitizing maps at the street level, walking is affected more and more by the technology we use.

Bekk Wells’ The Walking Stitch, is an ongoing project which invites participants to explore and re-think wayfinding in urban spaces through walking and craft. Maps of the participant’s city are printed onto fabric and then made into pillows. Wells encourages small groups to set out on an exploratory route, to seek out unfamiliar places or re-experience the familiar in a new way. Each person is given a printed pillow, as well as a needle and thread to stitch the progress of their path. With every iteration of The Walking Stitch a new physical record of a walk taken is generated.

There is a commitment to meandering in The Walking Stitch that contrasts the increasingly common practice of using an app to deliver the most efficient and direct course to a destination. Wells’ work responds to the Situationists’ practice of dérive, an unplanned journey guided by the landscape and whatever encounters take place en route. Movement without purpose is at odds with the new trend towards monetizing where people go, when they go and how they get there. In a society of smart phone users, we are often unknowingly supplying the data of our day to day movements to interested parties through “geolocation” data. Phone applications like the popular Pokémon Go have the ability through their terms and conditions to track user’s location in real time, allowing marketers the possibility of predicting a user’s buying habits or digitally customizing advertising to each individual. Habits that may be imperceptible to you are useful to companies that see your potential as a consumer. To deviate from your daily routine is disruptive to this form of data collection.

Without a labeled map or destination, The Walking Stitch requires you to take notice of the space around you and operate, albeit temporarily, outside of your usual routine. By isolating map reading and embroidery as experiences without an express goal, Wells draws your attention to their changing roles in a society inundated with technology. What future do these skills have?  As we move towards an increasingly digitized world, it’s worth contemplating how the loss of analog knowledge impacts our relationship with digital systems.  

Image: Bekk Wells’ The Walking Stitch, 2019 

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About the author: Creative both in practice and thought, Haylee Fortin is an Edmonton based painter, new media artist and printmaker. Haylee’s practice often addresses themes of isolation and femininity through collage and imagery sourced from online hunting forums. Graduating with distinction from the University of Alberta’s Fine Art program in 2015, Haylee has since pursued an interest in art as a means of community engagement with local artist run centers. Through her position as studio assistant, Haylee supports programming for artists with developmental disabilities at the Nina Haggerty Center as well as courses in print-making at the Society of Northern Alberta Print-artists (SNAP). As the installation artist for the 2016 and 2017 URB PRK concert series, Haylee developed an appreciation for public art through creating weekly public art installations. An appreciation which continues to grow through her position as curatorial assistant with The Works.

By: Simon Yee, Production Assistant.

If you were to ask me four years ago, when I was just graduating high school, what I wanted to do in life, I would have no clue. It’s amazing to look back and see the process of struggling to find myself to now, graduating from post-secondary. In those four years, I found a passion that I care about, a dream to work towards, an organization that I can dedicate myself to, and the will to constantly improve myself.

What started off as me wanting to design collateral for the festival (digital) turned into a full project to design the table toppers for The Works’ 2019 Media Launch (physical). For someone only has experience in graphic design, this project proved to be a major challenge. The hardest part was trying to come up with an idea that satisfied both the theme for the festival and my standards. With the help of Rochelle (Production Supervisor) and Susan (Curatorial Supervisor), I was able to narrow down the design plan for the bases for altered eye-glasses. The next challenge was assembling the bases. Not only did using wood glue to attach the dowels take a long time, but they also came apart with little force. So I switched to finishing nails. The final challenge was designing and decorating the sunglasses. I came up with the idea for 7 of them, but it is thanks to Callum and Taiessa that all 18 were created.

This project was an amazing learning opportunity for me. Not only did I get the chance to fully realize an idea I had, but the objects I designed will also be used for Media Launch. I am excited to see them in action and how people perceive them, but this is only the first step for my journey into the working world. I am going to continue challenging and improving my designs even more.

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About the author: Simon Yee is a graduate from the Digital Media & IT program at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, specializing primarily in graphic design with web design as a secondary skillset. His graphic design skill consists of Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, brand identity, type design, and illustration while web design skills consists of HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, UI and UX design. His design illustrations are inspired by elements from animations, movies, live-action shows, and forms of interactive entertainment. He placed 1st in the 2018 SkillsAlberta Provincial Competition for graphic design, and he placed 4th in the 2018 SkillsCanada National Competition. For more of his work, check his website at: skhyee97.wixsite.com/portfolio

By: Taiessa Lund, Production Coordinator.

Image: exercises from Stephanie Medford’s mindful drawing workshop

Last week, Stephanie Medford visited the Works to Work (W2W) team to give an artist talk on her work Drawn In, to be featured on our main site at Capital Plaza this year. She presented a very honest picture of her experience as an emerging artist up until this point, taking extra care not to gloss over hardships but instead reflect upon what she had learned from them. In this, she offered insight on burnout, art as business versus art as practice, practical ways to approach applying for artist residencies, and more. A topic that underlined her talk is mindfulness. About this time last year, feeling overwhelmed in the bustle of my final term at Grant MacEwan University coming to a close, I first met Stephanie after signing up for one of her mindful drawing workshops. Through individual and group exercises, she calmly facilitated workshop attendees to slow down, breathe, and notice. 

Now seated in front of a group of W2W interns, Stephanie related
mindfulness to the performative work she will be sharing at the festival. She described the term, as well as the act of shaving wood and drawing (two key elements of her upcoming performance), as both self-soothing and challenging. Granting opportunity to sit with uncomfortable aspects of yourself or your experience, practicing mindfulness can aid in developing deeper self-awareness and acknowledging the moment that you find yourself in.

While it is a practice that can be honed through art-making or other creative pursuits, its benefits can extend even further. Prime opportunity to put this into practice presents itself daily at The Works office. Being a part of the production team, it can be difficult to know what you will be tasked with on any given day: From installing computers in the offices to installing artwork at various downtown locations; painting doors to building plinths; driving cube trucks to lifting steel
sculptures, it is likely that you will at some point be confronted with work that you have not done before and maybe are unsure about how to proceed. In moments such as these, and the times when plans seemed concrete yet change anyway, adaptability and willingness to learn is key.

Mindfulness can help to facilitate this. In my experience, I have found that taking a deep breath, acknowledging how I am feeling, and safely proceeding with the uncomfortable task has served me in accomplishing things, with The Works and otherwise, that I simply would not have imagined possible. Thanks to Stephanie for the reminder to slow down and be present, in moments soothing, uncomfortable, and all in between. If you are interested in learning more
about her work, practice, and experiences with mindfulness, visit her website http://www.stephmedford.com/

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About the Author: Taiessa Lund is a Grant MacEwan alumni and current BFA student at the University of Alberta with prospects for graduate studies in art therapy. She is a multi-discipline artist, primarily working in drawing and printmaking. Through focusing on widely familiar objects and experiences, her practice centralizes around the ordinary. She seeks to reframe the mundane, spinning fragmented narratives to explore layers of dreaming, memory, nostalgia, and self-awareness. Taiessa has received awards regarding her academic standing, artistic sensibilities and community engagement, and her work can be found in collections belonging to the John L. Harr Library and MacEwan University.

Author: Yang Lim

LindaOzromano. I Feel Peaceful. 2017

      Based currently in Edmonton, Linda Ozromano is a self-taught photographer whose artistic sensibility is shaped by a convergence of various interests and experiences that have, in turn, cultivated her interest in other cultures.  This convergence can be summed up by her comment: “My passion for travel as well as community development combined with curiosity over how art influences our political, social and emotional realities had the biggest impact on my artistic practice.”

      Ozromano has been significantly involved with the local and international community in the areas of public advocacy, human rights, humanitarian aid, and sustainable development.  For example, she has been involved with non-profit organizations for many years.  This included working with organizations such as Operation Groundswell in Toronto and volunteering in Uganda in 2011, followed by a return there in 2014, during which she participated in educational and international initiatives.  Furthermore, she has collaborated with artists on community art projects to address societal issues.

      As such, her photography is shaped significantly by her social conscience as well as her engagement with social and cultural issues.  As Ozromano states, she is attracted to the photographic medium because she can use it as “a tool to see the world,” through which she can uncover “the ordinary and the mundane” as well as the unknown and unfamiliar.  She feels that people do not pay enough attention to the ordinary in urban cities such as Toronto, Montreal, and Edmonton.  Therefore, her depictions of ordinary people and street life aim to humanize its inhabitants and represent them as three-dimensional, complex individuals.  Ozromano hopes that her works will encourage people to recognize and foster mutual connections among each other:

I think the best moments are the ones that we think are mundane and ordinary. There is a certain beauty in what is usually not exposed or captured. I like to seek for those moments. I also think if we allow ourselves to fully experience emotions in a healthy and open way, we may discover so much of what we didn’t know about ourselves as well as each other - and this is where all the wisdom comes from. 

      The development of her artistic practice begins with Project Maisha, which exemplifies her keen interest in capturing the humanity of people and their respective communities.  While fundraising for her volunteer trip to Uganda in 2011, a friend gave her a piggy-bank that is shaped like an orange elephant and suggested that she name her.  Ozromano decided to name the orange elephant “Maisha” which means “life” in Swahili, and to bring it along on her trip.  Consequently, the elephant became a means for Ozromano to experience and reflect on her journey through different communities, during which she used photography to document the places and people whom she met.  The elephant would often generate curiosity and interest among people and serve as a starting point for generating conversation, particularly among young people.  Ozromano likened her photographing of the elephant to the movie of Amélie, in which the main protagonist Amélie would take photos with a garden gnome—so that it seemed like he was travelling around the world.

      Through this photographic series, Ozromano explores the ways in which storytelling can function as a means to connect people as well as create a sense of home and belonging through the generation of a shared narrative of experience.  The elephant itself could be said to function as a metaphor or focal point for the interpersonal connections among the people.  Furthermore, her photos convey the humanity and individuality of the African kids, which differ significantly from the homogenous images of impoverished and starving African kids that circulate in the mainstream media.   Although poverty and hardship certainly exist in Africa, these are not the only conditions that impact people’s lives there; however, the mainstream media has tended to focus on these characteristics, which has resulted in a reductive representation of the continent that does not adequately reflects the diversity and individuality of its people.  Through Project Maisha, Ozromano challenges and deconstructs that image.

      Her subsequent photographic series reflect a continual interest in Africa and with capturing images of people’s everyday lives.  For example, she depicts images of street life in Memoirs from Istanbul and evocative images of Iceland’s landscape, architecture, and community life in Getting Lost in Iceland.  In Zanzibar Unveiled, she depicts everyday life in Zanzibar, juxtaposed with some scenic imagery.  Through this, Ozromano appears to ask audiences to consider the actual lives of inhabitants beneath the attractive beach, water, and scenery that typically attracts tourists.  Mama Land, East Africa includes posed and candid shots of children and adults.

      Ozromano’s sense of herself as someone with a hyphenated identity also informs her work.  As a Turkish Jew, she is part of a minority population in her home country, so her self-identity is informed by a variety of different layers.  Having immigrated to Canada twelve years ago as an international student, she has made Canada home ever since.  As a result, her interest in home and belonging can be seen in her work, including the photographic series that she exhibited at this year’s The Works Art and Design Festival.  The series Colours are Emotions explores how people wear emotions as masks and, more specifically, how colours can convey or respond to particular emotions as well as how objects may represent certain emotions. 

      In each photo, Ozromano positions herself in the middle by facing the camera and holding a particular object, besides which she has also painted her face a certain colour that acts as a mask.  In one photo, her face is painted green and she is holding her passport, whereas in another her face is painted red and she is holding a National Post issue that has the front-page headline “Vegas Gunman’s Body Found Amid 23 Guns.”  As a result, the photos invite audiences to think about what emotions they associate with certain colours, consider how they feel about her and the objects being portrayed, and assess their own relationship to those very objects.  Indeed, Ozromano’s face mask in each photo appears to function as a metaphor for people’s emotions and the ways in which these can impact on the choices that one makes, whether negatively or positively.

      Reflecting on her artistic practice and relationship with her audience, Ozromano strives to evoke emotional responses from people through her work and to encourage a sense of connection and mutual recognition of each other’s humanity:

I like to see myself, not only as a photographer, but more so as a visual storyteller and story activist. I certainly like to convey a message: however, I think most importantly it is how my artwork makes the audience feel rather than think or perceive. Feelings like melancholy, nostalgia, grief and longing are not easy to approach but I like to give people space to feel vulnerable and help them see humanity in all the stories I try to depict.

      Currently, Ozromano is working on a documentary series based on her recent photography of her grandmother’s house in Turkey, through which she will explore topics such as her heritage, hyphenated identity, and sense of home and belonging.  To learn more about Ozromano’s art, visit her website at https://www.lindaozromano.com/ or follow @lindaozromanophotography on Instagram.