Author Archives: jogervai

“They Coloured Me”
A collaborative art project and interactive experience focused on social privilege

As part of UBC Okanagan Equity and Inclusion Office’s annual Rule Out Racism campaign, three groups have joined together to present “They Coloured Me” art exhibit and interactive experience.

The Privilege Project
Project Team: Jada Larkin
The Privilege Project consists of the four plaster-human canvases. The canvases are holding a box that contains a personal response to a question about privilege. Visitors are welcome to write their reflections on the bodies with chalk. In addition, at the opening on March 7th from 4:00-6:00 pm those who attend will be welcomed to participate in a privilege test, designed to show the effect of privilege and social mobility.

Finding New Paths:
Exploring Decolonization, Indigenous Feminism, and Reconciliation Through Art
Project Team: Harron Hall, Amberley John, Drayson Netzel-Wood, Kelly Panchyshyn
The Indigenous Studies Association has invited artists to submit artwork based around the themes of privilege, Indigeneity, women and healing. The pieces include weavings, paintings, baskets, photography and other art forms. The group affirms the Syilx territory and wishes to engage the community as a part of the methodology of reclaiming space. The aim is to create a medium through which the community may engage openly with concepts of decolonization, Indigenous feminism, and reconciliation. The hope is that through providing an accessible platform for dialogue among audiences of all backgrounds, these discussions will facilitate cross-cultural healing, decolonization of thought, and a strengthening of the Indigenous way.

Qu(e)erying Campus: The Experiences of Indigenous and/or LGBTTQQIAP+/queer and/or racialized/POC students. AKA ‘The Campus Diversity Project.’
Research team: Susana Caxaj, Ruthann Lee, Ilya Parkins, Jenica Frisque, Nene Azu, Kari Barge, Kira Risler

Pause Play Play Prev | Next

For instance, racialized students or ‘students of colour,’ shared experiences of being racially profiled, treated unfairly in Kelowna, or, having their unique backgrounds being belittled in class. LGBTTQQIAP+ students agreed that most people on campus assumed they were straight and cis and as a result, often had to ‘out’ themselves. For some students, ‘coming out’ was too much of a risk – as they weren’t sure whether their friendships or support network would remain intact if they revealed their sexual orientation or true gender(s). Some Indigenous students felt that although in certain centres and classes, Indigenous knowledge was valued, this acceptance and acknowledgement was not a universal norm across campus. For Indigenous students from different nations, outside of the region or the province, it was hard for them to practice or access their unique cultural traditions.

Our analysis is far from complete but we want to share what we are finding with students as we begin to piece together the many voices and experiences we have had the opportunity to learn from. Please share your own reflections with us by contributing your thoughts on the poster boards.

For more information email: equity.ubco@ubc.ca

Follow

The Department of Creative Studies at UBC Okanagan Campus is proud to present this short-run exhibition of Ursula Kabis prints. The artist grew up in the southern part of Germany, and later achieved a Masters degree in Dressmaking, Pattern-making and Design in Baden-Baden, Germany. She worked as a pattern-maker and designer in Zurich, Stuttgart, and in St. Gallen, Switzerland before immigrating to Canada in 1967.
Ursula Kabis and her family moved to Kelowna in 1977, and she took her first Visual Art courses at UBC Okanagan in the academic year 2008-09. Specializing in Printmaking Kabis has continued to distinguish herself for the quality and prodigious volume of print works in her portfolio. She is a consummate drawer and has turned this ability to print productions in Etching, Dry-point, Aquatint, Linoleum & Woodcuts, Mono-prints and Collagraphs. Her primary subject matter includes animals, landscapes, and architecture, with images and compositions sourced in the Okanagan region.

Pause Play Play Prev | Next

Follow

Nina Fazio
Artist Statement

I have always been fascinated by people and the different “faces” they wear depending where they are or who they are with. Anonymity, death, and sexuality have always been common themes in my work. Colour and pattern are also very important facets of my work.
There are pieces from two separate series in this show. In the first series I dealt with the topic of death. This series was heavily influenced by the Mexican cultural celebration the Day of the Dead and I quickly became obsessed after experienced great loss and absence in my personal life. I recontextualized these sugar skull ideas into my own interpretation and developed my idea of masks or the ‘faces’ people wear. The death masks became a way for me to express how death can affect individuals and assisted in depicting how people carry so much of themselves and the ones they’ve lost in their bodies and facial expressions. In this body of work I dealt with having the mask present on the face and latter dealing with the mask’s absence completely.

In my newest work I’ve been using kaleidoscopic line work mixed with bands of colour cutting through simple line portraiture to suggest a hidden inner expression beneath. My new research focuses on colour psychology and colours effect on people, whether colour can convey tone or depict feelings, mood and emotion in a piece and its impact on the viewer.

Pause Play Play Prev | Next

Follow