Hexagon Artist Talks: Nov. 17, 2016

Hexagon Artist Talks: Nov. 17, 2016

Date: November 17, 2016 | Time: 6:00pm

Artist Talks: Thursday, November 17, 2016 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Through the support of an anonymous donor, the Hexagon Special Projects Fellowship Residency provides an annual fellowship to support a mid-career or established Open Studio Artist Member through the provision of six consecutive months of studio time to create and complete a specific project.

Hexagon Special Projects Fellowship Residency Recipient 2015-16: Kurt Pammer

Kurt Pammer is from Toronto. He started printmaking at Open Studio in 1999, taking classes and workshops in lithography, screenprinting, and intaglio over the next decade. Pammer has exhibited at Open Studio four times since 2008, most recently in the group exhibition On Your Marks… (2015). Kurt was shortlisted for the Open Studio National Printmaking Awards in 2013 and 2014, receiving first place and honourable mention, respectively. He was included in IPCNY’s New Prints/New Narratives: Summer 2013 (NYC); the print chosen for that exhibition was subsequently published in Printmaking Today magazine (Winter 2013). Alongside 43 other artists, Kurt took part in the Boundless and Borderless portfolio exchange between Sydney Printmakers (Australia) and Open Studio, which was exhibited in Ontario, Australia, Scotland and toured in Taiwan. He also participated in The Sketchbook Project Print Exchange (Brooklyn, NY, 2014). In 2015, Kurt chose an etching for Open Studio’s 45th Anniversary Exhibition which was exhibited to IPCNY’s New Prints/Commedia: Fall 2015 and to Print London in 2016.

During his time as Hexagon Fellow, Kurt ended up working primarily in screenprinting. He started off with the idea of combining with others’ work styles but making them his own. Past training came from classes at Open Studio and from his mentors; he finds learning and influence by observation (and therefore trial and error) to be good practice. He came up with a drawing/painting method, aided by the computer. His theme was decidedly Bachelor. He chose a still life from his home and went to work for 6 months, completing a major work and several smaller ones.

Hexagon Special Projects Fellowship Residency Recipient 2016-17: Liz Menard

Liz Menard is a printmaker, book artist and arts educator. Menard grew up exploring the forests, streams and fields in Agincourt and near her cottage in the Kawartha Lakes. Canoe trips into Algonquin Park helped nurture her love and respect for these ecologies and the plants and animals that struggle to survive. Menard’s work addresses our relationship to nature and how it shapes our sense of place and sense of self, reflecting us as a society and as individuals. Human development has created a loss of connectivity, fragmented ecologies and marginalized habitat, threatening our environment. There is much to lose. Menard is cautiously optimistic, as nature has proven resilient. Resiliency is essential for recovery from trauma; trauma results in loss of connection, fragmentation and marginalization. Recovery involves many factors, but the connection to nature is vital. Recent exhibitions include River’s Nature, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department, University of Toronto; SHIFT: Environmentally Responsible Print Practices, McMaster University; and The National Printmaking Exhibition, Edinboro University, Pennsylvania. Menard has participated in national and international residencies. Her work is held in public and private collections. She was Open Studio’s 2012 Nick Novak Fellow. Menard will explore connections between nature and resiliency during the Hexagon Special Projects Fellowship.

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