solo exhibitions

2009 Johnston's Falls
2009 Radiant
2008 This old thing?
2007 All That Glitters…
2006 Tag (with Erin MacMillan)
2006 Talk Back
2006 Shoes
2004 Friday, February 13th, 2004
2001 - 02 Wish You Were Here...
2000 Bonjour, Je m’appelle Shelley Ouellet
1999 Marilyn
1999 Aviary
1997 - 99 Entomology
1997 Quilt
1995 Entomology
1994 Entomology
1994 Bunnies

group exhibitions

2005 Stride 20th Anniversary
2002 Alberta Biennial
2002 Art Throb
2002 ACAD Faculty Exhibition
2000 Coffee Break@instant coffee.com
1999 Light a Match
1996 Alberta Biennial
1996 Numbered Company
1995 Mysteries of the Flesh
1995 Copy

other diversions

2006 - 2008 Carpet 'N Toast Gallery
1996 - 2010 vanitygallery.com

This old thing?
Reconsidering landscape and icons

at Carpet 'N Toast Gallery
February 1 and 2, 2008

I recently had the opportunity to install Lake Louise (2001) for an exhibition at the Nickel curated by Colleen Sharpe. It was nice to play with the beads again and I've been thinking about some other old things ever since. I decided to use the Carpet 'N Toast Gallery for my own ends and cracked open some long-stowed crates from Michael's garage. I want to take some time to look at these things and the opportunity to invite you to have a look as well.

Landscape

Saguenay (2002) is the third sculpture in a series and built for an exhibition at the Nickel Arts Museum. The Wish You Were Here... project evolved over several exhibitions and involved dozens of volunteers in five Canadian cities. The project included three beaded sculptures based on paintings of majestic Canadian landscapes from the late nineteenth century. Lucius O'Brien's, Sunrise on the Saguenay (1880) is appropriated and the port is recreated with more than 60,000 plastic beads. Predating widespread use of photography, O'Brien, Church or Bell-Smith painted what Canada looked like helping to form an identity for a new country.

Icons

Marilyn (1999) was originally created as a DIY product for an exhibition in a commercial gallery and played with the "notoriety" of more ephemeral sequined star portraits like Rita Hayworth (1996) and Audrey Hepburn (1996). Limited edition, boxed kits designed to allow anyone to install a portrait of Marilyn Monroe à la Shelley Ouellet, were for sale and floor models in the exhibition showed the finished installation as well as apartment-sized variations. 9 Marilyns (2002) is made from recycled LiteBrite™ boxes and revamped with small, pretty crystal beads or - as we say in the industry - is a "material-driven" work. Both Marilyn and 9 Marilyns rely on the same image of Marilyn Monroe because it is so recognizable. Thanks to Warhol, mass marketing and the lady herself, Marilyn can be seen at very low resolution and with little visual information. Working with the lowest resolution and a smaller scale, 9 Marlenes, relies on the gesture and dramatic pose the actress rather than the iconic status of Marlene Deitrich's image.