Tissue is a group show curated from the studios of UBCO fine art students. These colourful artworks portray unique ways of expressing relationships to the body. Whether it be through textiles, sculpting or painting, we see the importance of acknowledging oneself in the process of learning, growing and creating. Tissue is the delicate skin, the gossamer fabric that keeps us all together. Perhaps within the intimate, we seek the ultimate understanding of ourselves.
Written and curated by Jorden Doody
Tissue is the delicate skin, the gossamer fabric that keeps us all together.
Artist Statements & Biographies
Simone King
Simone King is a BFA student at UBCO, whose work addresses contemporary textile art, with a primary focus on needle felting and wool. Their practice is multimedia, and they enjoy bringing textile work into both pictorial and sculptural mediums. Their work has an interest in narrative, exploring themes of catharsis, healing, and identity.
ARTIST STATEMENT:
YOU ARE UTTER HELL and Affirmations both came from a need of personal catharsis in the aftermath of a life altering event. Each express different emotional needs in different stages of working through trauma, with YOU ARE UTTER HELL existing in the immediate aftermath, and Affirmations being created as a step towards acceptance and peace.
Both were a departure from my usual textile work, with a graphic and bright approach to the imagery and the inclusion of text. This idea started with YOU ARE UTTER HELL, with the intensity of feeling behind it calling for the stark colours and graphics. With Affirmations, the colours are still bright, but intentionally paired with gentle imagery and text to portray a sense of healing.
The Magical Talking 8ball
Oil on canvas
2023
YOU ARE UTTER HELL
Wool on Felt, Embroidery Thread
2022
Chandler Burnett
Hello to all who may see this, my name is Chandler Burnett (Strawberry Juice). I am a tattooist, painter, sculpture, and surrealism artist located in the Okanagan, currently based out of Kelowna. I am currently in my fourth year in the bachelor of fine arts program at UBCO. I have enjoyed drawing, sketching and painting all my life and love to showcase my work. I go by the alias Strawberry Juice, which is my name upon entering the gateway into my mind. I take large inspiration from local tattoo artists, surrealist artists, and classical painters/old masters. I am an entity exploring and observing unknown territory, I am but an alien observer and creator. I hope to show you what lies beyond, I serve you, the curious.
Stevie Poling
ARTIST STATEMENT:
The works I produced this semester all came from a place of personal introspection. The mask was inspired by childhood books that are now a safe space I reside within as an adult. The brightly coloured, horned monster motif encapsulated not only this nostalgia, but battles I’ve fought and lost; and the ebb and flow of mental stability.
The duster was made from all up-cycled materials and represents the Spring Equinox, where skin shifts and ice begins to melt and drip. A celebration of rituals (I undertake) when the sun comes out out of hibernation. The two pieces create a portrait of myself.
Affirmations
Wool on Felt
2022
ARTIST STATEMENT:
‘The Magical Talking 8ball’ is a surrealist painting comprised of six different grill and diamond encrusted mouths surrounding a glowing 8ball, amongst an orange and brown sunset like background. The floating organic objects and sparkling atmosphere resembles a scene into another world that represents infinite knowledge and wisdom. The mouths float around the black sphere confidently with open mouths as if to show off their rich and high end dental adornment jewelry. The work represents the voices inside our own heads that seem to rule over all of us, speaking their knowledge and attempting to guide on the correct path. The 8ball represents the immense good luck or bad luck the voices may present us with, and the uncontrollability of life.
Ethan M Life
36 year old Iranian/Canadian who fled Iran in 1996 with the help of the Canadian government and an organization called Child Find. A Canadian citizen for over 2 decades with experience as a firefighter, ski and mountain bike patroller, and now a first year BFA student at the Okanagan campus of UBC.
Artist Statement
The mask was first my rendition of an archeological find that belonged to a modern day King, but added to the suit jacket, it has become an amalgamation of what I like to call a broken king, referencing the Pahlavi dynasty of Iran, specifically Reza Shah himself
Broken King
Paper Maché, Wood, Paint, Beads
2023
Monster Skin
Mixed Media
2023
Hereditary
Porcelain doll legs, marker, faux fur, wool, ribbon
2023
Bone Chair
Wood, nails, white paint
2022
Rain & Jorden Doody
ARTIST STATEMENT:
In their first exhibited collaboration, mother and son have created a mixed media sculpture that combines playful colours and fun textures with the dislocated and decorated limbs of a precious porcelain doll. With baby-like proportions Hereditary naturally attracts the viewer with instinct, care and curiosity. Upon closer inspection, one might either be alarmed or charmed by this beautifully beguiling bundle of joy.
Both artists were born in Kelowna, BC and have been traveling with the circus since 2008. Rain Doody is in the first year of his BFA at UBCO. Jorden Doody is an art instructor in the FCCS Department at UBCO.
Jessie Emilie Schmode
Jessie Emilie graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Alberta University of the Arts in 2022 and is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of British Columbia Okanagan campus. Her creative research confronts personal experience with mental health, body image issues, spirituality, and religious sexual shame. She captures intimate moments of honest vulnerability by revealing subjects in exposed physical and mental states, often deep in thought or relaxation alone or in relation to other bodies. While also incorporating the healing effects of earth tones, natural forms and plants that cause benefits for mental and emotional health.
Artist Statement
Jessie Emilie graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Alberta University of the Arts in 2022 and is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of British Columbia Okanagan campus. Her creative research confronts personal experience with mental health, body image issues, spirituality, and religious sexual shame. She captures intimate moments of honest vulnerability by revealing subjects in exposed physical and mental states, often deep in thought or relaxation alone or in relation to other bodies. While also incorporating the healing effects of earth tones, natural forms and plants that cause benefits for mental and emotional health.
Lady on Couch
Oil on Birch
2022