residencies

“Sitting in the Basin of All These Relationships”: Outdoor School Residencies in Attunement on Cape Breton’s West Coast

Coming back to the Island as an artist for the residency in MacKinnon’s Brook helped Farooq harmonize the gulf between both coasts and also redefine his sense of belonging to Cape Breton. He gave an artist talk at the Inverness County Centre for the Arts to conclude his residency, the first artist talk he’s given in his home province, where members of the art community from both sides of the Island gathered.  “There was a real sense of homecoming. I think people understood very much where I was coming from in my projects as being one of our own, in a way.”  These stories of disorientation and interbeing while in residence, about the art communities on both coasts, help to attune to the rich and complex histories as well as inheritances of Cape Breton’s broader arts ecology. Perhaps what they all have in common is the land on which they practice, how the coastal lands and environment of the Island influence their practices and gather them in its basin of relationships.

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Neon Defiance

Stephanie Wu on Internet culture, self care and the role of allies today

"For a long time, the Internet felt like the safest space to have conversations about race, gender, sexuality and mental health, when the communities I was brought up in shamed these things."

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The marks left behind

Denise Hawrysio on pushing the boundaries of print

For more than 20 years, Denise Hawrysio has continuously pushed the boundaries of printmaking, shifting traditional printmaking techniques into the realm of contemporary art while reflecting modern realities. Hawrysio removes the walls between her studio and the outside world by taking her etching plates into everyday public spaces, where she finds unique and unexpected ways...

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In pursuit of everyday knowledge

Q&A with Katie Belcher

Eryn Foster interviews Halifax-based artist Katie Belcher. From conducting research with a charcutier to meeting a composer in Spain who taught her how to translate music into a visual form, Belcher divulges how spending a year in Europe has influenced her approach to art-making.

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Tracing the edges

Annie Macmillan explores Halifax Regional Municipality's hidden lakes

Artist Annie Macmillan is seeking out every lake in the Halifax Regional Municipality with the name "Little Lake" and swimming its perimeter. Her plan is to turn those maps into drawings that tell the story of each swim. In this interview for Visual Arts News, Veronica Simmonds catches up with her to talk about her underwater adventures, her artistic process and her exploration of a city's edges.

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Will Robinson’s brutalist inspiration

Visual Arts News catches up with Will Robinson during his recent residency in Dalhousie University's Killam Memorial Library. Robinson discusses his latest project—translating the surface of a building into song.

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