The Haida Gwaii Museum and Parks Canada will host an evening with participating 2015 Artists in Gwaii Haanas Residency visual artists, Kathy Pick, Rosa Quintana Lillo and Matthew Eric Miles.
Kathy Pick recorded her visit using Polaroid cameras and sketched concepts that are used in producing art from the natural materials gathered in other places on Haida Gwaii. Rosa Quintana Lillo captured the essence of the geography, cultural and historical aspects of place and incorporated it into a series of silver leaf paintings around land forms, particularly islands. Matt Eric Miles gathered images of the natural environment through time-lapse photography and field recordings.
Throughout the residency, the artists have developed a greater understanding of the land, sea and traces of human passage; some are still present, while others are long gone.
The known record presents a partial view of the rich ancient Haida culture, and one can only imagine the many other spiritual, social and cultural influences still present but unseen. After six days in collaboration with Gwaii Haanas, the artists have created a dialogue that will continue at the Haida Gwaii Museum in the form of a collaborative exhibition. This collaboration presents Matt Miles exploration of “projection mapping” which is a developing technology that allows digital media to be applied interactively to any surface. The surface work will be created by Rosa Quintana Lillo, who is deciphering the reflections and abstractions of light on the water and Kathy Pick’s organic plant paper made from grasses and mosses. The work will be bound together with video and a sound scape composed by Miles. This installation will be the first time artists from this residency have worked collaboratively on an exhibition exploring Gwaii Hannas.
The Artists in Gwaii Hannas Residency Program, is a unique program that offers opportunities to learn, share, collaborate and explore creative possibilities through visual art while in the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area Reserve, and Haida Heritage Site.
For more information please contact Scott Marsden, Executive Director, Haida Gwaii Museum at museum@haidagwaii.net.