The Helen Pitt Gallery is pleased to present Matter Work, an exhibition of new works by emerging Vancouver artists Nicole Ondre and Alainnah Whachell. Recognizing the poetry and intelligence inherent in materials, Ondre and Whachell eloquently negotiate the territory between an immediate relationship with matter and the historical inflections of form and substance. Whachell’s sculptures reveal an exuberant relationship to materiality and process, as her luscious illusionistic surfaces of glitter and resin contrast the light corporeality of foam and cardboard forms. Through their simultaneous crudeness and solemn beauty, these structures engage in a dialogue with the authoritative legacy of Modernist sculpture. In Ondre’s paintings, layers of brushwork in all varieties – immediately present, collaged and photocopied – revolve in a circular and self-referential process. Through concise handling of paint and paper, she finds herself immersed in an intense investigation into the material and conceptual properties of painting.
A publication containing excerpts from a conversation between the artists and curators accompanies the exhibition.
Nicole Ondre and Alainnah Whachell are senior Visual Arts students at Emily Carr University of Art + Design.
Matter Work is curated by the Helen Pitt Gallery’s Emily Carr Co-op students Jen Aitken, Vanessa Disler, and Mike Stupin.
