Setting the scene
Fall exhibition at Confederation Centre Art Gallery focuses on the contemporary side of St. John’s, N.L.
Mimi Stockland always considered herself to be a creative person.
But, it wasn’t until she moved to St. John’s, N.L., five year ago that Stockland truly felt things take off.
Now, her work is on display for all to see.
Stockland is one of the featured artists whose works are part of the new fall exhibition at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery in Charlottetown. The exhibition, Give Me Shelter, profiles the work of 13 emerging St. John’s artists, all of it curated by Pan Wendt, the centre’s art gallery curator.
“It was a whole new world. I had a vague idea . . . but something just clicked,’’ Stockland said in an interview at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery on Thursday. “Five years ago I permanently moved to Newfoundland with the goal of joining the artistic community. I’ve always wanted to be an artist. I always liked making things.’’
Stockland found the East Coast artistic community not only welcoming but encouraging, support she did not feel while working as an artist in Montreal, Que., where she was based beforehand.
“My humour really just clicked with East Coast humour. I was understood; my jokes landed better.’’
Stockland graduated from textile school in 2015 and decided to start putting her work out in the professional world and see what happened. She also established a professional art practice in St. John’s.
Her work in the fall exhibition at the centre is based on a mix of things she has created over the past five years, all displayed in a collage.
Pepa Chan, another St. John’s-based artist whose work is part of the exhibition, chose to focus on relationships and trauma.
“It’s about making ourselves vulnerable when we are relating to others,’’ said Chan, who is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. “It’s about intimacy and the risk we take when we are connecting with others.’’
Chan calls her exhibit, Brush. An televised image of someone having their long hair brushed plays in the background. But, there is also an image of a brush
with burning matches in place of the normal bristles.
Chan said that’s meant to signify that brushing can be
cathartic to some people but symbolizes trauma for others.
“There’s abandonment in
my family and violence,’’ she said. “I lose a lot of hair and that’s related to stress and anxiety. I’m basically using hair brushing and losing hair as metaphors for all of those things.’’
Wendt said Give Me Shelter is an exhibition that reflects the fact St. John’s is a cosmopolitan city.
“It really gives you a sense of the scene in St. John’s,’’ Wendt said. “You go there and you really feel that even though, when you go there, you get a real sense of (the city’s) heritage and its past. Give Me Shelter is a ... place the artists feel very at home.’’