Ode to Nature:
DIALOGUES RIOPELLE
In May 2023, I packed up my dog Sadie, my art supplies, and Atelier Imago’s Intaglio Printmaking Press from Mitchell Press Works and traveled to Académie Ste-Famille in Tracadie-Sheila, New Brunswick: a Francophone coastal town on the Acadian Peninsula.
It was my first time doing an artist residency and the Académie’s first time hosting one, but I felt right at home in the stoic historic building with its incredible past, gorgeous hardwood floors, and a view of the sea from my 4th floor studio. The residency was part of the Dialogues Riopelle, a National centennial celebration of the internationally famous Candian Francophone artist, Jean Paul Riopelle.
For ten days, I created field sketches, studied migratory birds, printed at the studio, taught a tetrapak printing workshop, and completely fell in love with the Acadian Peninsula. With rugged coastlines, dreamy seaside views, amazing food and genuinely lovely people, this region has so much more to offer than it’s given credit for!
Thank you so much to Académie Ste-Famille and Atelier Imago for choosing me as one of the lucky artists to be a part of this program. It was an incredible learning experience and I can’t wait to come back!
Mine was one of three residencies, all completed by New Brunswick artists. Each of us was assigned a different theme to create a body of work during our residency, the culmination of which was exhibited at Académie Ste-Famille in the Summer of 2023 and again at Atelier Imago in October 2023.
Keep scrolling to see my creative progress for this body of work and get a sneak peek of what I’ll have up in the show!
Field Work
I traveled along the coast of the Acadian Peninsula in search of coastal birds, especially migratory species arriving in the area. I studied the birds and their environments, documenting their movement, actions, and ecosystems with field sketches and photographs. I reflected on my sense of place as a descendant of European Settlers and on my human impact when present in these spaces. I questioned my relationship with the birds, who I grew more attached to as the journey progressed despite always keeping my distance from them. I considered my own migrations; where they have led me and how they might connect me to these birds.
At the Studio
Back at the studio, I created tetrapak prints (an intaglio printmaking method involving repurposed tetrapak containers to create an image) featuring the birds I had observed in my fieldwork. I chose a medium that uses upcycled waste as a means to draw parallels to human impact on Nature. I printed hundred of these birds, cutting them out and affixing them to an adhesive magnetic backing.
The Work
The final body of work is a combination of field sketches, three large-scale field drawings with steel backing, and hundreds of magnetic birds. Visitors are invited to add, move, or remove magnetic birds to, around, or from the composition. This physical contact with the birds we cannot touch in real life will kindle an emotional attachment from the viewer toward the birds, imploring them to protect them. While they move the birds, they will be encouraged to consider their own migrations in life and the size of their eco-footprints.
The field sketches share my own meditations during my creative process, hung on a line as they were during my residency to recall my time on the Acadian Peninsula. While they were hung in the studio for convenient access to my references while printing, here, they hang in a format that requires the viewer to come close to observe each individual image. From this perspective, they may step into each image to observe each detail and create their own relationships with the places and birds described within.
Ode to Nature will invite the viewer to reflect on their own sense of place, environmental impact, and connections with Nature.
Thank you so much to everyone who made this residency and exhibition possible:
Académie Ste-Famille for choosing me and for being incredible hosts,
Imago for arranging the opportunity and sending me up with printmaking equipment,
Rotchild Choisy and Gordon Sparks for being amazing artists to work alongside,
The beautiful communities and lovely people that made the Acadian Peninsula feel like home,
The people, communities, and organizations that put so much effort into conserving incredible places such as Pokeshaw Rock, Miscou Lighthouse, Île-Aux-Foins Park and more,
The numerous sponsors to this program, and, most importantly,
Dialogues Riopelle for facilitating this National cultural mediation program and allowing me to be part of it!