Statement for Bite and Burn; encore MSVU Gallery 2009
In my projects I intermingle my interests in art history and philosophy (phenomenology) with my personal involvement with physical labour, class systems and gender specific rituals in North American sub-cultures. My most recent project ‘Bite and Burn; encore’ continues specifically with these investigations and also carries on my ongoing exploration in expanding and challenging what defines sculpture. ‘Bite and Burn; encore’ has evolved from the project ‘bite and burn (central, pacific, atlantic)’, which began in 2004 and occurred in three chosen institutions located in particular geographical regions: Open Studio in Toronto ON (central) 2006, Vancouver BC at grunt Gallery (pacific) 2006, and Sackville NB at STRUTS Gallery (atlantic) 2007. The key formal components of ‘bite and burn (central, pacific, atlantic)’ included: printmaking, my body, music, tattooing, and architecture. An action consisting of these elements took place once in each gallery/region, each completing one third of the tattoo, one third of a set of prints thus one third of the total sculpture. In the sculpture ‘bite and burn (central, pacific, atlantic)’ the use of my ‘body’ directly in the work emphasizes my personal history as well as establishes a direct discourse with ‘rite of passage’ rituals within the culture of tattooing and music. It was from these investigations that the project ‘Bite and Burn; encore’ gestated and evolved.
With ‘Bite and Burn; encore’ I propose to further focus my investigations by merging specific art historical references with both tattoo and Heavy Metal cultures. Utilizing the formal relationships of tattooing, and the strategies of conceptual printmaking of the 60s-70s (NSCAD Lithography Workshops 1960-1980).