Lethbridge Herald

Unique exhibits open tonight at SAAG

- Amanda Michalezki amichalezk­i@lethbridge­herald.com

The Southern Alberta Art Gallery has two artists to showcase their unique exhibits tonight starting at 8 p.m.

Sculptor and media artist Jennifer Rose Sciarrino’s art consists of works on how we imagine future forms in the age of Anthropoce­ne. Digital media artist and photograph­er Rosa Aiello examines stereotype­s of feminity based on two of Patricia Highsmith’s short stories in “Little Tales of Misogyny” in her exhibit.

Sciarrino’s exhibit is called “Ruffled Follicles” and “A Tangled Tongue.”

It is a body of work but of two separate pieces. Installati­on comprised of steel, brass, alabaster and glass called “Root to Lip.” They are props used for an HD video loop called “Vessels for Coalescenc­e” that also has a sculpture essence which will be presented during Sciarrino’s exhibit.

She has never shown this particular work before as it is the newest iteration of it. She hopes people will enhance their curiosity when seeing her work.

“To push forward and look more into thinking about ways of seeing how tangled human beings are to nature and the rest of the world,” said Sciarrino.

For Aiello, she is showing three works including a film piece (“The Coquette”), photograph­ic works (“The Prude”), and a sound installati­on of a train which is an extension of “The Coquette.”

Her aim was to try to access the multiple dimensions of how an abstract concept comes into being.

“What I’m trying to encourage in a viewer, and is important to me, is to question their assumption­s at every point,” said Aiello.

Both artists also have book projects that are handmade made by Publicatio­ns Studios Guelph (in Ontario) that go with their exhibits but only Aiello’s will be available for viewing during her exhibit.

The catalogue for Aiello’s exhibition is a selection of fiction and poetry works that’s bound and made by publisher and bookmaker Steph Yates from PS Guelph.

Yates helped to create Aiello’s book that is a short experiment­al fiction piece and three poems.

“Print on demand is an approach that allows the publisher to work with artists and writers we admire without a large risk,” said Yates. “Even if the book is experiment­al or strange and maybe won’t find a large audience, we strive to connect it with an audience.”

Kristy Trinier, SAAG executive director, said the books are reproduced and made with file folders, regular paper and stamps.

“It’s really amazing to have a special, unique publicatio­n made just for the exhibition,” said Trinier.

For those interested in bookmaking, Yates will be running a workshop at 12 p.m. on Sunday at the SAAG.

Follow @AmandaMicH­erald on Twitter

 ?? Herald photo by Ian Martens ?? Artist Rosa Aiello and Jennifer Rose Sciarrino have been busy unpacking their art as they prepare for the opening of their exhibits today at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery. @IMartensHe­rald
Herald photo by Ian Martens Artist Rosa Aiello and Jennifer Rose Sciarrino have been busy unpacking their art as they prepare for the opening of their exhibits today at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery. @IMartensHe­rald

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