 Hi, my name is Tami Landis. Welcome into the Western Gallery. Wish we could all be here in person, but I'm going to give you a little bit of a walkthrough of our current exhibition Insight, a New Realism. As you can see behind me, I'm surrounded by a lot of different mediums, surfaces, variations of the artistic process that have come together in this exhibition. So today, this exhibition Insight, a New Realism, is our 10 exhibiting BFA artists who actually graduated in the spring of 2020. But because of COVID-19, we had to reinstate their installation to the fall 2020. So we're looking at now our 10 exhibiting artists in all different mediums, all different perspectives coming together, exhibiting their culminating projects from their BFA year here in the gallery under one space. So my role as a curator in this exhibition was to try to find some similar themes or parallels to what their work is addressing and coming up with the title Insight, a New Realism. A lot of the work is addressing identity formation, the self, childhood, trauma, memory, nostalgia, but all through an artistic process. So I hope you enjoy this time as we get to dive into artists who are using the artistic process as a means to explore their identity. Welcome everybody on behalf of the Western Gallery. I hope that you're able to see some little glimpses in that video about our exhibition and it's very rich, very complicated. There's a lot going on there and we are fortunate today to have two of our exhibiting artists with us. So to the artists that were shown there in that video are going to be with us today talking about identity and the sense of what does it mean to express or communicate the self to others and fortunately for us, these two artists have used the artistic process to do that. So we're going to dive in and talk about those few things. So with us today, we have Amanda Cartel. So now, Amanda, you can give a little wave and feel free to unmute now Amanda and Sarah. So Amanda is presenting us a work that's called the dining room. That was one of the very last works that you saw me walking around was this very large dining table. And this has very specific connotations to her growing up and her identity so we'll dive into that. And then Sarah Kindle, if you can wave who's also with us here today. And again, thank you both for your time being here. Sarah's work was the model that the video kind of rotated around and it was a little bit of a quick video but it was a model of Sarah's childhood home, a trailer home that has not existed anymore. It's no longer present. So there's so much to pull from why Sarah decided to create this space that's no longer accessible. And how relevant is that is that for all of us today that there's all these spaces that we can't access today that are no longer available. Maybe they're still there but their doors are closed and we can't enter because they're places of community that we're no longer able to access. So it's a pleasure again to be with you all. My name is Tammy Landis. I'm a museum educator at the Western Gallery and I'm really looking forward to diving into this topic of identity and relationship to art because there is so much to say about all artists and how they use their identity as a means to create meaningful bodies of work. And there's something to say about emerging artists such as Amanda and Sarah, who are with us today, that are utilizing their identity in a really deeply personal and presenting it to the public like what we're doing. You know, we don't all have the gift that Sarah and Amanda do to tap into these creative processes and create successful works of art that are about our identity. You know, most of us and we'll talk about these in the chat room. We use and express our identity in different ways, but for us in this dialogue. We're looking at how these two artists have used their identities as a catalyst for expression as a catalyst for a means of communication and why they decided to use that in their bodies of work. So without further ado, I'd love to dive right in. So Sarah and Amanda, hopefully, yeah, you're unmuted. So you're you're here. Thanks for being here, both of you. Thank you. Yeah. And Sarah and Amanda are both still in Bellingham. Some of these artists from the BFA year have moved on to other cities and other places and, you know, it's my effort to bring them in to still install their work when they graduated in the spring. So it's a, you know, really deep pleasure to have you both here. So maybe Amanda will start with you. And I know Chevelle you do have some of the images if you're able to pull them up. That's great. So Amanda is the dining room, the large scaled table with the broken ceramics and the two paintings on the side. So Amanda, you know, I want to just read really quickly something from your artist statement and then we'll dive right in. So you talked about creating discomfort is the crux of my taking a familiar space and distorting, distorting it to contradict the preconceived emotions tied to the objects within it. So there's a lot to unfold there, you know, you're taking a space that is so familiar to you and you're distorting it and changing it. And a lot of this is in part of your identity revolving around the space in particular the act of consumption, as we talked about. So Chevelle, could you show us how is this work steeped in your, maybe childhood identity or is this still a part of your, you know, your identity who you are today is this still a scene that is hard for you. I would say actually like the beginning of the year it might have been harder for me but after months and months of having to look at it on a daily basis it sort of became more of an exploration of that time in my life. For me, I really wanted to take like the raw emotions of more of my adolescence than my current self and distort the space based on the emotions sort of like when you first go into a building for the first time it seems more complex and bigger than it actually is sort of taking the negative emotions related to a dining room and acts of consumption and making that into a space. You know, that's interesting you've chosen your identity more so a lot of the identity that you remember so this is a memory of, you know, a certain identity that's persisted. Yeah, you're presenting it in an exhibition and what does it mean for you to be presenting this, you know, aspect of your identity to the public, you're making it open to everybody including your family including your friends, those around you. It's been an interesting experience I say that I would say the most rewarding part of that was that a lot of people have similar experiences that you are like I'm able to connect with even if they're slightly different than mine they still relate to my work in that way which is really really interesting and rewarding in terms of like revealing it to the public, I would say it was at first a little daunting and then it was actually quite rewarding because it just sort of felt like a weight off my back it's like I had talked about it and now it's now it's out there for people to connect with and explore and understand so. I initially feel hesitant at all to you know portray such personal work to the public. A little bit I would say over the four years of going to school is definitely a topic that I just sort of avoided, and then decided to do this, this last year, in terms of I think the hardest part would be my artist statement and how I wanted to phrase things in would be acceptable to my family and people of the public and not too personal but also personal at the same time so. Yeah, yeah. And so Sarah let's let's jump to you on some of these same ideas right so you're also portraying a space that's more specific to your childhood that is no longer available for you to go visit or see and maybe is only kept in your memory. Maybe through pictures maybe not. And so you know tell us walk us through why you decided to recreate that space for this body of work and what it means for your identity formation, you know the process of yourself. I feel like it was a renegotiation of memory, and the way that when we're children we are kind of at the mercy of the adults around us to make decisions that are really difficult. And while, you know, we might not have that agency to say what we need or what is right in that situation that like this is just a kind of manifestation of all of those feelings and those experiences and like a way for, for me to go back into that time period and that like even though it might not exist anymore to kind of make it a stage to perform those actions that are really needed to have happened to. I don't know to feel to feel some sort of like grounding, and it's been therapeutic. So, yeah, yeah, that's a lot of it. It's been therapeutic in a way to be able to express it in the form of an installation in an exhibition versus you just, you know talking through it you have the capability and the skill set that you've created this installation and people have been coming in and experiencing it. How does that impact, you know your processing your, your identity. Yeah, that it's that I'm able to show these people this environment and have them engage with it and create their own meaning is really important to me to, because I feel like this, this installation is kind of like, it's how like I do identity It's hard to explain. I feel like a lot of it is like just trying to show people something that's really sensitive without being too blatant and being subtle and instead of being like you know hit in the face with like all of this trauma. It's kind of like it tries to be inviting and I tried to create an environment where people can kind of sit and think about their own childhood and kind of look at these things that might be upsetting in this this space, but not necessarily like hurt by it. So kind of you've created a portal. I mean it's not just you didn't just create a photograph or just a relief print that's flat on the wall you're allowing a space for people to come in, and to reconsider some of these notions that you're talking about it's like a portal into memory for there so not only are you expressing your identity but you're creating a space that allows others to think through their identity and maybe specific to familial patterns of life their environments and their spaces. Right. And maybe you could share briefly I know that if the exhibition would have been open to the public we were going to have you do some performances live performances within your exhibition and I think that is really steeped in your identity to. So maybe could you share briefly what that component would have been with your work. As well I did some performance in that space and I recorded it on Instagram but I create these these characters that are based off of kind of like, I don't know, just very like broad concepts of how I identify as like a person who is like feminine and and either like queer and just I try to think about all of these like female roles that I viewed as a child and kind of personify them. So I feel like this the performance that would have happened in this installation would be like a series of personifications of like, you know the identities that I have like cultivated, and to kind of create this sense of self of who I am now. You know, so they're all these different aspects. Yeah, definitely. And I think it leads me to this part of your artist statement that I share. You wrote it allows me through this work. It allows me to write a new narrative of my personal history, one where I am in control of my sexuality identity and pain. And I think Amanda for you as well. And both of you so maybe I'll let Sarah chime in first but both of you have expressed how the active creation has allowed you to control this memory to control this part of your identity to control this space and there's something to say there I mean for our audience it's not, we can all relate to creating a multi sensory exhibition or installation we can, we can relate to maybe writing it down, you know our memory or writing down or sharing with a counselor or sharing with other certain memories as an active try to remember it but here you're saying, you know you're controlling this memory through the active creation and expression. So, I don't know if you have a thought there, you know this idea of control. Sarah maybe you want to go first yeah. Oh, I, I guess, control is something that's really important to me because of my childhood and because of that trauma and to like, have the ability to relate the actual environment where I feel like I can express all of these feelings that might not have listened to and I, it's. Yeah it helps me find some sense of peace and that like I'm able to get all of those feelings out and then kind of like look at myself and say okay well this is, this is how I really feel after all of that like screaming and freaking out. Absolutely. Amanda what about you, you know this idea of control. That was probably my biggest motivator for this work since I was recreating a space for I had a complete absence of control. It's like I ate what was given to me I ate with the people that I like I had to eat with my family. It's like my parents space so the idea of recreating my dining room from my mind definitely became a really cathartic process and definitely speaking to the act of breaking all of the ceramics was definitely very controlling. It's also very cathartic. I would say the whole piece was definitely about expressing my thoughts and my feelings which I feel like we are really able to do a lot in adolescence and get a response from people that might necessarily understand that you're sort of this lack of control because your life is is controlled by people who are older and are responsible for you. So, I would say that, especially with my work sort of continuing on what Sarah said, it was being able to take, take the space as we remember it, and sort of make it do what we wanted to do this time like this time for our art and for like for the exhibition, which is very nice and a good feeling. Yeah. Yeah, and I think for those that are listening that don't necessarily know you know your BFA year is really neat you have. You've completed your four year degree and then this is an additional year here at Western where you've applied you've submitted a portfolio and you have an intention of creating a certain body of work. And then you dive into that body of work for a year so you spent a year, not more you know preliminary things that you've done in years before that all creates this moment of your BFA final body of work. But you know you could have created work on a lot of different things and I know each of you have expressed like coming into the year considering different options, but you both discerned that what felt right to you was creating this work that was so deeply personal. So, I don't know if you have a thought on. What it meant to be submerged in a year process surrounded by this work. Amanda, if you want to go first. I, I was really looking forward to it I would say like I plan on doing BFA throughout my four years and I was really excited to get both like emotionally and physically invested in a project for an extended amount of time. So, I would say it was, it was really interesting because we also have our committee members between meetup and then we explain our work and what we want to do and our thoughts behind it. And I definitely think that that was the first time where you're like, Oh, this is actually what I'm doing I'm going to be submerged in this work for a year I have to think about what I have to think about this project for an entire year. That sort of led me to be like what can I talk about and think about for a whole year. That will continually interest me and make me want to work on it and it's sort of usually ends up being myself and memory and stuff that I already ended up fixating on for years and years and years. So, yeah, Sarah, what about you. I had a similar experience and it was very different from mine. I didn't know I was going to be in BFA until professors that I had to apply. I was like, I, because I'm the first person in my family to go to college. It's, I don't know what I didn't know what I was doing in college most of the time I was kind of just like moving through these like places and thinking like, Wow, I feel bad I should do this in art to like feel better. BFA was just, it was like really intensive therapy for me. So it, it was really nice to have the committee to to kind of take these like raw feelings and like organize them into like really like specific projects. And so, and I know I keep on thinking about how this installation is kind of like a way of like working out this like dissonant feeling of like my family life and my academic life, because my family life is very, it's not. There's no intellectual kind of interaction. And there's no like delving deep into to like why we feel the way we do and then with like school it's and and the BFA program it was trying to look at these thoughts and like kind of delve into them and like identity building this whole like conversation we're having now is just like, it's so nice to have that to kind of be grounding. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and I just want to give kudos to you both for you know presenting such personal work it's not easy to do. And for all of us sitting here we're like, I don't know what I would create like what would be the space that I would make and it's really hard to get there and it takes a lot of work. And actually in the artistic field and the art field is you're stepping into what's the start of your artistic career to like start that this is your body of work moving forward it's it's really monumental. And it has a huge impact for what's going forward but again just like kudos to diving right into what felt important to you and listening to that because some people feel intimidated and they don't and they just stick with something maybe that's a little easier. You know, to present to represent but I know as a curator, I am drawn to artists like yourselves that are not afraid to dive into what's hard and challenging. So I think there's a lot that each of us can pull from this of, you know, identity work and thinking about how we express ourselves is not easy work. And then you know Sarah for you to even say it's therapeutic to work through this. Definitely there's something to say there. I want to draw your attention. We do have a question from game and then another question just came in. I'll just start off with games which was curious about how it feels as an artist to have physical displays put on at a time like this. We all are most isolated as people and I wonder how it feels to be creating something so personal for public display, but then to have access to that display somewhat restricted as well. So I'll give you all opportunity to respond to that and then share the next question. Yeah, Amanda, do you want to go first. I would say it was interesting because definitely with planning this project we expected it to be very very public. I would have to say that I am both like sort of relieved that it's sort of more private and more intimate to experience, but at the same time I did want it to I wanted to have the large reception and be able to interact with everyone person to person and talk. In terms of how it made me feel I would say it's interesting because after working with this project individually almost for a year, especially once quarantine started and I had to work completely alone. It's weird to be away from the work after a year and sort of have everyone experience it without me. So especially something so personal it's sort of an interesting experience that feels it's an I'm actually sort of happy that people get to create their own feelings and sort of be more like secluded in my space personally because I like I sort of that's how I felt in my dining room was sort of alone secluded so. Thanks. Yeah, absolutely. Sarah. Definitely can like I agree with what Amanda said that it's nice to have people go in without the jarring noise of like all of the other students and everyone else that kind of in that space and experience it like kind of one on one. But I still don't I don't feel like it's real, and that like I created this thing and then I had this really strong emotional attachment to it and then not having access to it and not being able to share it and like be present when someone else is engaging with it it feels like I don't I don't feel like it's real and like I've been really struggling with all of the the restrictions and stuff I feel like things aren't real right now so. Just for the context of everybody. So the Western Gallery is open but we're only open to our Western community so unfortunately, Sarah and Amanda and all the other artists couldn't even have their families come up. And I remember this moment of being in the gallery and Amanda's FaceTiming with their family who are standing like right outside. And it's just so challenging that they couldn't even come into the space but we're respecting you know the policies and keeping our campus and our community as needed. During these policies so these are some of the restrictions that Amanda and Sarah talking about and let alone the steps we had to take to get them onto campus and exhibiting and installing their work so it's not just the doors were open come on in and bring your work it's been. Quite the process that we've all felt. So I know that we have another question and I see it. I'm Chevelle so I'll just go ahead and read that. Thank you Karen for your question. So the question is I was wondering how Sarah and Amanda went about choosing their medium and how that medium connects to or expresses the ideas and experiences of their exhibitions are trying to create and they said I like the idea that she just posed that her art is inviting trauma I think this is something that a lot of artists try to capture. So, how does your medium connect to what you're trying to express so maybe Sarah, if you want to start us. So the medium that I initially started off with in my career at Western it was like printmaking. And so I feel like the process of printing and doing relief printing for all of the wood paneling in the installation. It becomes so repetitive and meditative that, you know, I feel like it. It allowed me to kind of think about all of the emotional aspects of creating this installation yet like have this this like kind of guard of like through repetition of kind of like feeling numb to it, and just kind of like experiencing it without too much. I don't know too much intensity and, and just the idea of crafting this whole installation like finding little aspects of like, you know, like things that I've collected over the years and things that I've seen in like secondhand stores and kind of just having that kind of control was really, really helpful I forget about the questions really quickly so I'm sorry about the material in the process and how it connects but you were saying that repetitive process of relief prints which frame the wall of your installation which kind of sets the tone of everything because of that wood panel and so that repetitive motion was a portion of you kind of unveiling this to so Amanda for you the materials how does that communicate to the expression of what you're trying to create like how what's the material and I think this will probably have to be our last question, but go ahead. Yeah, I mean I mostly chose the materials on more of a functional basis, what a dining room would already be made out of so I would think that the most creative expression of material would be in my paintings. I took a lot from, I really liked sort of the tiara scuro and religious paintings, and something that's spooky but also really meaningful, and that you can drive a lot of symbolism from so that was sort of the inspiration and why I chose to do sort of these really dark oil paintings on the side to get that sort of feeling and emotional response. Yeah. I see that you're okay doing one more question is that true. Yeah, I think you can take stairs and then all others you can put them in there and we can shift them to the small groups. Okay, that sounds good so we have a question. Thank you Heather says did you immediately know what final piece. It would be the final piece would be or did it evolve over time. So why don't you start us off. I originally was going to do significantly like almost a bigger piece with similar themes where I wanted to talk about cause and effect. So originally I was going to make gigantic ceramic vessels and break them with bordering drawings on the wall so similar but then after a lot of talking to my committee they were like then might maybe work specific and that's when I went to the dining room and from the beginning of that specific piece I had a pretty good idea of what it was going to look like but there was a lot of experimentation while I was doing it so yeah. Yeah, thank you and Sarah. What about you did you know your piece the entire time or did it evolve. I know I did something completely different the first for the fall of BFA. I did a whole bunch of like stuff regarding like performance and burlesque and like the, the, just something that was more comedic and I did like something totally different while I really wanted to, I wanted to explore the idea of making a home, but I felt like it would be too personal. So I, our families and creating, or it is really difficult you don't want to like upset your parents and stuff so. Yeah, I started off with something completely different, although I had like kind of inklings with like the work that I did the previous year I kind of touched on that but I just kind of like felt nervous. So, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Well I think we're about at time for needing to jump into our breakout sessions which I feel are going to be very rich and exciting so thank you all for being here. And thank you again to Amanda and Sarah for your time today and for sharing and diving in. I know by your identity it's not something easy to do let alone make artwork. That's, you know, fueled by your identity so congratulations to you both on your bodies of work and for what they've meant to our community. I know personally being in this space as people coming in, they spend a lot of time with your work so there's something to be said there. It's been a pleasure to have you both as exhibiting artists and to have you here today so thanks for your time. So, I think I'm going to let Nathan take it away to what we're doing next for the breakout sessions and I'm going to share in the chat, the link to the Western galleries website for this exhibition where you can see the online catalog. And you can see more information about each of these artists as well as recorded artist talks that both of them had with me.