Category Archives: FCCS Artwork

Unprecedented is a showcase of third year Bachelor of Media Studies (BMS) student works that explore the realms of virtual reality, dreamscape, and interactive experiments.

This exhibition presents a unique opportunity to delve into the minds of these emerging artists and designers, who have brought their visions to life through innovative mediums. The world of virtual reality has captivated audiences with its ability to transport us to new and exciting places. In this exhibition, our students have pushed the boundaries of this technology to create immersive experiences that blur the lines between reality and imagination.

Through the use of 3D modeling and coding, they have created virtual worlds that are both visually stunning and interactive, allowing the viewer to explore and engage with the environment. Dreams have long been a source of inspiration for artists, and our students have tapped into this rich tradition to create works that explore the surreal and otherworldly. These pieces offer a glimpse into the subconscious mind, where reality is distorted and the impossible becomes possible. These works engage the senses and encourage exploration and play, creating a dynamic and engaging experience for all who visit.

We invite you to join us on this unprecedented journey through the worlds of virtual reality, dreamscape, and interactive experiments. We hope that this exhibition will inspire you to explore new frontiers in the world of art and design, and to embrace the limitless possibilities of the digital age.

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Printmaking at UBC Okanagan is extremely varied.  In our modest print studio, students work with five different media areas – stone lithography, zinc-plate etching, ultra-violet screen printing, relief printing, and letterpress.  Not only do students become adept at whatever print media they are studying but they learn how to work cooperatively in what can sometimes be a bustling and chaotic environment.  Everyone is constantly being influenced by everyone else in our close-knit print community.

The exhibition PRINTMAKING (February 20 – March 9, 2023 in UBCO’s FINA Gallery) was comprised of prints selected from each of the five major print media practiced in the BFA program.  Most of the works were made throughout the last year.

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Connor MacKinnon graduated in the Masters of Fine Arts Visual Art programme at the University of Victoria in 2022. He is now a Workshop and Studio Technician for the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBCO.

A Gold Pan stoneware 2023

Generating and using algorithms as tools for creation is a curious process. In many ways, they can be deterministic, repetitive, and reduce the creative act by limiting it to solutions allowable within their bounds. In other ways, they can be generative, speak to unimaginable potential, and ignite a deep sense of questioning. The algorithms at work here are simple. They do not make use of A.I. or neural networks. They don’t feed off big data and aren’t hooked up to any endless networks. In reality, they are more like math equations that deal in digital 3D geometry. Each series follows a unique set of steps which translates some piece of data into 3D models ready for production whether that be 3D printing, CNC milling, or other forms of digital fabrication. While the function of these algorithms ranges from imaginative historical reconstructions to explorations of non-human centered design, and object-based evolution, they all produce and demonstrate a range of variability within a defined system. While some of the strangeness and variability are genuinely produced through the action of the algorithm, it is important to understand that it is a very controlled environment that inherently carries the bias of the person who developed it.

Historical Fictions (Lisbon) 3D Printed PLA & composite gold leaf 2021

While their algorithmic nature directly links these works, they are also a part of a larger and longer-term exploration of material culture through the properties, qualities, and attributes that we associate with objects.  In particular, these algorithms examine those object characteristics as variables or parameters. How far can traits be pushed or changed? When does it become a new object or even a new type of object? Like the algorithms themselves, when does a value break the system completely?

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Con•com•i•tance

The fact of existing or occurring together with something else.

by Jordan MacDonald, & Nayaab Master

Con•com•i•tance: the fact of existing or occurring together with something else, features elevenartists from VISA 482: Advanced Art Practices who work with a variety of, mediums, including drawing, painting; printmaking, sculpture, photography, and new media, to explore themes related to the relationship of interactions that take place alongside one another. Sharing common interests through the exploration of interconnections.

Entering the gallery space, Julia Pearson utilizes a combination of new technologies and printmaking to form an installation that investigates self-identity with overlapping realms of reality. Delainey Vogan uses cyanotypes as a means to reconceptualize the male gaze through a feminine perspective. While Jordan MacDonald’s installation addresses the relationship between fabric and skin as a representation of mental health issues, and the use of natural materials, revealing the many facets of the self. Claire Worrall’s textile art, likewise, confronts her personal mental health struggles by merging objects and garments to build a tale that ties the audience to the piece. Simone King’s textile work explores themes of catharsis and healing while utilizing animal forms t<? portray emotions that are difficult to put into words. Josie Hillman’s interactive performances challenge one’s physical and psychological understandings of social norms by disrupting the underlying societal standards.

The artworks offered by Nayaab Master engages with the process of creation, focusing on themes of intimacy and moments hidden in privacy through the use of mixed media. Moving into the conventional realm of art, Hei Yu Wong’s paintings engage with the concepts surrounding surrealistic illusions via the exploration of elements found within nature. Whereas Chloe Jenkin’s paintings explore themes of place, atmosphere, and individual experience through still images of spaces gathered from film and television. Moving into the natural world, Makeena Hartmann’s graphite drawings on handmade paper elevate native wildflowers to foster the development of a nurturing relationship with nature in the modern world. Lastly, Bella Jiang’s drawings capture and depict the faded-insignificant moments of memories that carry subtle and sensitive emotions.

Con•com•i•tance aims to open conversations around intimacy, discomfort, memory, and self within the natural world; providing a space for reflection on how these themes affect us psychologically and physically. Exploring themes around relationships, body, land, memory and place, the exhibition invites us to reflect on what defines each one of us and our relationships to the ever-changing world around us.

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From floods in Pakistan to forest fires in the Okanagan the exhibition Devoured Earth explores climate apartheid, colonial history, trade practices and migrations.

Heraa Khan is a miniature painter from Lahore, Pakistan. She received her BFA from the National College of Arts Lahore, Pakistan in 2012. Currently, she is an MFA candidate at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan. She received the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation award in 2021 and the Ruth Katzman scholarship for the Art Student’s League Residency at Vyt, New York, in 2016. She co-taught the course “Miniature painting and Beyond” at The International Summer Academy of Salzburg, Austria in 2017. She has conducted several workshops on traditional miniature painting including those at Art Student’s League, New York, Satrang Gallery Islamabad and at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan. Khan has shown both in group shows and solo shows in Pakistan, USA, UK, Europe, Iran and Canada.

Statement:

Currently, a third of Pakistan is underwater due to record-breaking flooding. These statistics are shocking, since Pakistan is responsible for 1% of the world’s carbon emissions and yet is the 5th most affected country by climate change. Last year, after moving to Canada, Heraa not only witnessed the flooding in British Columbia, but also the devastating aftermath of forest fires in Kelowna. Having had close encounters with impacts of climate change, Heraa has become deeply vested in understanding the climate crisis that has followed her through her journey from the East to West. In her paintings, she draws upon Pakistan’s and Canada’s similar colonial histories of violence towards land, ecosystems, culture, and traditions.

Heraa’s interest in the use of Indo-Persian miniature painting as a medium, lies not only in reviving an ancient traditional art-form but also because the practice embraces ideas of sustainability, ecological sensitivity and knowledge. Her practice involves borrowing raw material from nature like squirrel hair, bird feathers, tree branches and natural pigments to craft handmade paint brushes, paper and paints. The paint created from these natural pigments is then stored in empty mussels. She uses her hand as a palette and sits on the floor to work which helps her form a connection with earth and her surroundings. The whole process of creating her art requires her to be at one with nature, whether through observation or by creation, much like the indigenous folks that inhabited this land before her.

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