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Exhibition: May 30 – June 20, 2024
Reception: Thursday, May 30 from 5-7PM
artLAB Gallery
This exhibit is a culmination of Leith Mahkewa’s time as the Indigenous Artist in Resident at Western University. Although the focal art piece of her residency was the production of a cradleboard adorned with beadwork, she also produced many beaded items, which are pictured in the exhibit.
While in residence Leith explored a variety of new art mediums: woodworking, linocut printing, leather handbag making, silversmithing and haute couture embroidery which add to her artistic repertoire and increase her creative skills.
Beadwork is Leith’s primary art medium of choice. Through this residency she followed a vision to create a new and innovative artwork while still conserving the original intent of the cradleboard. This was her first attempt at making a cradleboard and then adorning it with beadwork. The design and creation of the board itself is not a new concept, cradleboards have been used for centuries but Leith had never made one. The completion of this board and accompanying beadwork took approximately 7 months, a relatively short time compared to the 12 years she held this idea and waited for an opportunity to make her idea come to life. The inspiration for this project came from Leith’s personal experience using a cradleboard for her children and her desire to create one herself using beadwork as the main focal point. She promotes the use of the cradleboard and its value to the mother, baby and family.
One of the goals Leith had during her residency goes beyond the boundaries of UWO’s campus and Western’s Wampum Lodge to her community, Oneida Nation of the Thames. Leith’s intentions while at Western was to help increase the visibility and use of cradleboards by those within her community. The avenue that she chose was to encourage a group of women to explore their beadwork journey and to encourage them to bring the cradleboard home for themselves to use or for their families to see its utility and beauty.
The group gathered on campus and in Oneida, where they learned beading techniques, shared food, and comradery. All were gifted a cradleboard to bring home to their families. It’s important to note that beading for Leith is primarily done alone. However, the time spent creating and sharing with these four ladies motivated her to complete her own works and helped to foster the possibility of sharing future beadwork teachings. The beaded wraps for each cradleboard created by Faye Summers, Shelley Elijah, Twyla Antone and Samantha Doxtator are integral to this exhibit and a once in a lifetime experience which sustains the utility of cultural items.
Leith would like to acknowledge all those who mentored, encouraged and at times listened to her creative ramblings. The journey to this point was not done alone, there have been many people who helped to make this process enjoyable and a success. She recognizes the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Western Ontario for the providing the space for the promotion and growth of the Indigenous Artist in Residence program without which she would not have had the resources to work independently and create art as she sees it.
© 2024; Department of Visual Arts; Western University
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Exhibition: May 30 – June 20, 2024
Reception: Thursday, May 30 from 5-7PM
artLAB Gallery
This exhibit is a culmination of Leith Mahkewa’s time as the Indigenous Artist in Resident at Western University. Although the focal art piece of her residency was the production of a cradleboard adorned with beadwork, she also produced many beaded items, which are pictured in the exhibit.
While in residence Leith explored a variety of new art mediums: woodworking, linocut printing, leather handbag making, silversmithing and haute couture embroidery which add to her artistic repertoire and increase her creative skills.
Beadwork is Leith’s primary art medium of choice. Through this residency she followed a vision to create a new and innovative artwork while still conserving the original intent of the cradleboard. This was her first attempt at making a cradleboard and then adorning it with beadwork. The design and creation of the board itself is not a new concept, cradleboards have been used for centuries but Leith had never made one. The completion of this board and accompanying beadwork took approximately 7 months, a relatively short time compared to the 12 years she held this idea and waited for an opportunity to make her idea come to life. The inspiration for this project came from Leith’s personal experience using a cradleboard for her children and her desire to create one herself using beadwork as the main focal point. She promotes the use of the cradleboard and its value to the mother, baby and family.
One of the goals Leith had during her residency goes beyond the boundaries of UWO’s campus and Western’s Wampum Lodge to her community, Oneida Nation of the Thames. Leith’s intentions while at Western was to help increase the visibility and use of cradleboards by those within her community. The avenue that she chose was to encourage a group of women to explore their beadwork journey and to encourage them to bring the cradleboard home for themselves to use or for their families to see its utility and beauty.
The group gathered on campus and in Oneida, where they learned beading techniques, shared food, and comradery. All were gifted a cradleboard to bring home to their families. It’s important to note that beading for Leith is primarily done alone. However, the time spent creating and sharing with these four ladies motivated her to complete her own works and helped to foster the possibility of sharing future beadwork teachings. The beaded wraps for each cradleboard created by Faye Summers, Shelley Elijah, Twyla Antone and Samantha Doxtator are integral to this exhibit and a once in a lifetime experience which sustains the utility of cultural items.
Leith would like to acknowledge all those who mentored, encouraged and at times listened to her creative ramblings. The journey to this point was not done alone, there have been many people who helped to make this process enjoyable and a success. She recognizes the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Western Ontario for the providing the space for the promotion and growth of the Indigenous Artist in Residence program without which she would not have had the resources to work independently and create art as she sees it.
© 2024; Department of Visual Arts; Western University
Each summer at the Mattress Factory, artists and educators from a variety of disciplines come together with local youth to engage in hands-on projects that inspire and initiate conversations about the community. Children learn about the history of the museum and of the neighborhood and explore artistic and practical ways to improve the places that we live.The summer of 2012 featured three different sessions of Community ArtLab, with themes like Utopia, Super Hero Snack Time, and The Power of Play.
Each summer at the Mattress Factory, artists and educators from a variety of disciplines come together with local youth to engage in hands-on projects that inspire and initiate conversations about the community. Children learn about the history of the museum and of the neighborhood and explore artistic and practical ways to improve the places that we live.
The summer of 2012 featured three different sessions of Community ArtLab, with themes like Utopia, Super Hero Snack Time, and The Power of Play.
Department of Visual Arts:
MEET AND GREET!
Thursday, October 10 from 3-4PM
Organized by Cheyne Ferguson, artLAB Gallery Intern
artLAB Gallery
Have you ever wanted to opportunity to get to know faculty and staff better? Then join us for this special event--there will be coffee to sip, nametags to wear, and great conversations to be had between students, faculty and staff. All are welcome, light refreshments will be served.
artLAB Gallery
JL Visual Arts Centre
Western University
London, Ontario, Canada
© 2024; Department of Visual Arts; Western University
Credulous Escapism
Brianne Casey, MFA candidate, thesis exhibition
July 07 - July 28, 2022
Credulous describes the readiness to believe in anything even with the uncertainty of its validity. Viewers are welcomed into this space of possibilities, where they can escape from the realities of the world. The exhibition Credulous Escapism reflects on a whimsical moment in life, while acknowledging that childhood wonderment inevitably comes to a looming end. With this in mind, Casey created paintings and installations that engage with neo-surrealistic influences -- further attempting to reveal our subconscious relationship to the mysterious and nostalgic world of toys.
In my own experience toys are a continuous source of inspiration, particularly, a royal purple bear given to me by my Papa, (Leonard Johnson) when I was six years old. The bear contributed to my colour scheme in several visual works. This colour and the matching colour scheme have been prevalent in my work for several years. Observing and contemplating my work the royal purple aesthetic was realized by chance, when I glanced at the bear in my studio; an object that has been a constant part of my studio as a continued reminder of my Papa. The familial and intellectual impact of the teddy bear inspired my fascination with how toys have the potential to influence us subconsciously throughout our lives.
Artlab Gallery
JL Visual Arts Centre
Western University
London, Ontario, Canada
© 2022; Department of Visual Arts; Western University
How can I be OK with the e/and of the world?
Jessica Irene Joyce
July 18 – August 1, 2024
Reception: Thursday, July 18 from 5-7PM
artLAB Gallery
EVENT:
Join Jessica Irene Joyce and Ashar Mobeen for an exhibition tour and discussion.
Tuesday, July 30 from 12-1PM
How can I be OK with the e/and of the world? creatively repurposes painting’s formal and material conventions to its own ecological aims. Landscape and portraiture flow around and through each other, urging viewers to look at the world instead of away from it. Scenes from Mount Pleasant Cemetery and Sherwood Fox Arboretum depict transformative cycles of life and death throughout the changing seasons.
In 2019, I began reading Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate (2014) and quit after three chapters, not knowing what to do with the terror and despair it inspired. Inviting these emotions into my painting practice allows me to process anxiety arising from reading about (and living through) climate change. Through this project, I continue to learn and enact the responsibilities urgently demanded by the Climate Emergency, while exploring my relationship to the land colonially known as London, Ontario.
artLAB Gallery
JL Visual Arts Centre
Western University
London, Ontario, Canada
© 2024; Department of Visual Arts; Western University
Each summer at the Mattress Factory, artists and educators from a variety of disciplines come together with local youth to engage in hands-on projects that inspire and initiate conversations about the community. Children learn about the history of the museum and of the neighborhood and explore artistic and practical ways to improve the places that we live.The summer of 2012 featured three different sessions of Community ArtLab, with themes like Utopia, Super Hero Snack Time, and The Power of Play.
Each summer at the Mattress Factory, artists and educators from a variety of disciplines come together with local youth to engage in hands-on projects that inspire and initiate conversations about the community. Children learn about the history of the museum and of the neighborhood and explore artistic and practical ways to improve the places that we live.
The summer of 2012 featured three different sessions of Community ArtLab, with themes like Utopia, Super Hero Snack Time, and The Power of Play.