What I got up to in 2021
Tracing Footsteps | Mile Zero Dance
Artist Statement:
When my Baba and Gido found out what my parents decided to call me, they scrunched their noses and said “what kind of a name is that?? It doesn’t sound very Ukrainian!”. To make up for that misstep, my Mother had me enrolled in Ukrainian Dance at the age of 5, and I didn’t take a break for the next 17 years. Being a 2nd /3rd generation resident of Turtle Island, I have no doubt that my experiences with storytelling through dance are to blame for the strong connection I feel with the Ukrainian half of my cultural heritage.
The art below is from a performance project in which I was exploring the ways dance can connect a diaspora to its roots.
FOR MORE UKRAINIAN ART <CLICK HERE>
Teach Me To Dance
Short film from the National Film Board on the power of Ukrainian Dance
Live Event Painting
In 2021 I spent a lot of time live painting at Events and Festivals! This picture was from Busk Fest, but I also painted twice on stage at North Country Fair!
Garden
Portrait of my Grandparents and Nephew, Gouache and Watercolour on cardstock, December 2020
The concrete was so hot you could probably fry a potato on it.
Urban Heat Islands…
Did you know that urban spaces retain more heat than rural spaces? You can grow fruit trees in Edmonton that you cannot grow in Entwistle, which is only 100 km west. Both are on the same Latitude and receive similar amount of sun, so why the temperature difference? The culprit are those pesky artifacts of human activity: our buildings, our cars and especially our concrete retain a LOT of the sun’s energy. A recent study at Kings University uncovered as much as a 16 - 20 degree difference between Edmonton’s hottest and coolest communities (a nightmare for vulnerable populations, animals, and a great stress on our electrical grid). One of the main variables between these areas is the absence or presence of trees & natural green space.
The good news is that there are a handful of efforts to plant more trees and help cool the city down. Last year the Root For Trees city initiative supplied 1,500 volunteers with a total of 19,000 Trees and shrubs to add to our Urban Forest. There is also a new Tree Subscription service in Edmonton called Shrubscriber!
As Biodiversity suffers, attitudes around landscaping are starting to shift too. Every year I see more and more articles on the importance of re-wilding your yard, the damage that grass mono-crops cause, the harm that herbicides bring, and the benefits of trees in urban spaces.
<Click Here> to learn more about my AIR project for hcma Architecture Edmonton!
Click Here for FREE downloadable zines
Zebras Fix what Unicorns Break
Artists in the Fallow & hcma Architecture
While exploring the notion of slowing down and working mindfully within an artist residency at HCMA architecture, someone brought this phrase to my attention. “Zebras fix what Unicorns Break”. It is based on a Medium.com article from 2016 offering an antidote to magical thinking within the start-up realm and its negative ripple effects across the world. (With magical thinking, your Nike’s manufacture themselves, and the reusable Tupperware you throw in the garbage dump disappears to Mars.) Industries like social media, fast fashion, or mining companies operate on Unicorn time; favouring an extractive mindset that serves shareholders over the wellbeing of society at a larger scale. The negative impacts of “Unicorns” can be broad - From elections influenced by fake news, to the Giant gold mine in Yellowknife which is responsible for releasing tonnes of arsenic into Northern Alberta water tables.
In an ideal world, we are at a time where “Unicorns” become obsolete. As social animals who work cooperatively, “Zebras” symbolize an antidote to the breakneck speed of production that we need to get away from. In other words, now is the time to fix what Unicorns have broken.
Rainbow Queen Mural at “The Louvre” parkade in Edmonton. This fun little wrap around was freehanded and painted intuitively, based off of a painting that they chose for me (the young girl with the feather head piece)… Somehow in the middle of the process I happened to emulate Queen Elizabeth I’s rainbow portrait.. which features eyes, a snake, and a rainbow! I leaned into this coincidence and added some easter eggs!
This was a public painting event, and after being asked multiple times if I was emulating the Fauvist movement, the event being louvre themed, I decided to lean into that too. FAUVIST CARTOONS!
Crochet
I was gifted a pattern book on Novelty Crochet Potholders from Coats & Clark’s 1955 – The included images are my loose interpretation of these patterns (with some added taste).
“Practically everyone we’ve ever known enjoys a good joke, a funny story, or a clever cartoon, so it occurred to us to put a smile in the kitchen. Even though potholders are a necessity, they don’t have to look dreary – and these are every bit as practical as any you’ve ever used! Here they are, the – light-hearted, happy-go-lucky-, cook’s best friend- pot holders to add a merry decorative note to your kitchen… and to start a fad with all your friends!” - page 1
Well, I read this and thought “Hey, I could use a giggle in the kitchen!” so I got to work. To be honest, I haven’t cooked a casserole without bursting into laughter ever since.
Visual Poem
Gather ye Rose-buds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying: And this same flower that smiles to day, To morrow will be dying - Robert Herrick, 1648
Listen to the Reeds
Linocut on Tatami Kozo, 8 x 10”
If you ever find yourself feeling this overwhelmed, I invite you to try one thing; put on something green and wander around your neighbourhood. Do not stop until you find a slice of nature and then close your eyes, take a deep breath, and listen. You never know what kind of advice you're going to get. <PURCHASE HERE>
Ukrainian Doll
Source image from an online Antique Shop.
