Avery Ascher - The Pas, Manitoba
© Avery Ascher 2015
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Birch Dryad Elder - 2015
Criteria
Technique: digital Layout: based on a historic example Text: none Paper: pre-treated (crumpled, dipped, textured, decorative, etc.) Colour: highly colourful Image: collaborate with another artist Adjectives: manifesto-based; transparent; layered; dissonant; elegant or harmonious Statement/Bio
I work primarily in textiles, natural materials and metal because of the possibilities these offer in creating three-dimensionality, texture and depth in my work. Natural materials and textiles in particular open up surprising avenues of exploration through first deconstructing them. The Japanese aesthetic known as ‘wabi-sabi’ informs much of my work. Wabi-sabi is “a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete”, and where “things are either devolving toward, or evolving from, nothingness” (quotes from Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers, by Leonard Koren). To me, the mature boreal forest in northern Manitoba wholly embodies wabi-sabi -- a vast, complex and intricate architecture of decay and renewal collaboratively sculpted by carpenter ants, woodpeckers, fungi and lichen, sun and wind. ‘Birch Dryad Elder’, made of weathered birch bark, is one example of how wabi-sabi permeates my work. In ancient Greek mythology, dryads were tree spirits, usually portrayed as youthful. ‘Birch Dryad Elder’ envisions the birch dryad in later life, aging yet poignantly beautiful. I first began making visual art as an extension of my poetry, combining words with visual and tactile elements, then moved into creating pieces that express my concepts without using words. I am an active member of NorVA (Northern Visual Arts Centre) in Flin Flon, Manitoba, exhibiting my work there and serving on the Grants Committee. Contact Information [email protected] |