Pamela Dodds: Memory’s Witness – Nick Novak Scholarship

Pamela Dodds, Memory's Witness, installation view

Pamela Dodds, Memory's Witness, installation view

Pamela Dodds, Memory's Witness, installation view


Main Gallery
Pamela Dodds: Memory’s Witness – Nick Novak Scholarship

November 5, 2009 – November 28, 2009

Open Studio presented the 2009 Scholarship Exhibitions from November 5 to 28, 2009 by artists Pamela Dodds (Nick Novak Scholarship), Hazel Eckert (Donald O’Born Family Scholarship), and Kelsey Schuett (Don Phillips Scholarship). Each year, Open Studio awards three scholarships, providing artists working in print media with both professional support and access to studio facilities to create new work during a one-year period. All three artists gave illustrated talks about their work and the progress of their projects over the year on Thursday, November 5, 2009 at Open Studio, followed by an opening reception.

In the Open Studio Gallery, large, black and white woodcut & linocut prints by Pamela Dodds respond to the current pervasive atmosphere of war, reflecting on the destruction, futility and inevitable reverberations for future generations. War, though not in our midst, is a pervasive fact of our daily lives—whether we have friends or relatives directly involved or affected by war, or we simply encounter it daily in the news and politics here at home.

Pamela Dodds was born in Halifax, raised in Toronto, and lived most of her life in the USA. While living in Boston, MA, she often displayed her work in public places, putting it in view of those who might not find their way into an art gallery. Upon returning to Toronto in 2007, she became a regular at Open Studio. Pamela has received many grants, including an Individual Support Grant from the Gottlieb Foundation, and has been awarded many residencies, including at Fundación, Valparaiso, Spain, and the Wurlitzer Foundation, New Mexico (2010). Collectors include the Boston Public Library and the Cleveland Museum of Art. She is most rewarded by the connection that viewers find in her work.

An exhibition brochure with an essay by Toronto-based artist and writer Lauren Nurse accompanied these exhibitions. Lauren Nurse is a transplanted Québecer living and working in Toronto, Ontario. She is a graduate of Concordia University’s Print Media program, and recently completed York University’s MFA program. She has participated in exhibitions in Toronto, Montreal, New Mexico and Italy, and attended residency programs at Montréal’s Atelier de L’ile, Atelier Circulaire, the Vermont Studio Center, Newfoundland’s Pouch Cove Foundation and Muskoka’s Tree Museum Sculpture Garden. She teaches Design at Sheridan College, and Lithography at York University. Her current work explores intersections between real and fictive environments. Lauren’s diverse art practice includes print media, painting and drawing, video and performance.

Exhibition Brochure: Download Brochure Here