Category: Oxygen Art Centre

OℙEN STUDIO & FILM SCREENING today! -ˋˏ✄Three Way Mirror residency

RESIDENCYSummer Residency 𝕋𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕪 𝕄𝕚𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕣Daniel Barrow, Glenn Gear, Paige Gratland July 3, 2026 – August 7, 2026 Open Studio event Saturday, August 1, 2026, from 1:00 – 3:00pm > Film screening at 2:00pm Performance Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023) Written, Directed & Performed by Daniel Barrow Saturday, August 1, 2026, at 7:00pm 90 minutes, multi-media presentation *NEW* Workshop Interaction of Colour For Weavers Workshopwith Paige Gratland Wed., August 5, 2026, from 6:00 – 8:00pm Register to attend, Spaces limited All events are free to attend. At Oxygen Art Centre, we sadly near the conclusion of the summer residency with the artist collective, Three Way Mirror. Join us for the final public events on Saturday, August 1, 2026, including an Open Studio (1-3PM), Film Screening (2PM), and Performance (7PM). The artists have been in residence at the artist-run centre since July 3, 2026. Three Way Mirror is composed of artists Daniel Barrow (QC), Glenn Gear (QC), and Paige Gratland (BC). The artists visit Nelson from Montréal and Vancouver for a six-week residency where they develop their textile practices individually and collectively in what they call a craft ‘triangle’. For artists who belong to a social group that has often been marginalized, it is unsurprising that they are drawn to similarly marginalized crafts, art forms that link the personal and the political. Traditionally, a craft circle is a non-competitive circle of production where artists can create work and act on their concern for social justice. Three Way Mirror embraces this concept through a craft triangle where the artists create an intersectional queer space for textiles production and dialogue. The public are invited to attend an informal open studio event during the residency period to engage with the artists and encounter works-in-progress. The final open studio event is scheduled for Saturday, August 1, 2026, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. Admission is free. Everyone welcome to attend. This program is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the BC Arts Council, the Vancouver Foundation, and the Regional District of Central Kootenay ReDi program. Special thanks to Dara van der Meulen for their support as Residency Coordinator (Canada Summer Jobs) and Kenton Doupe for their support as Gallery Preparator and Photographer.FILM SCREENING During the Saturday, August 1, 2026, Open Studio event, the artists share their individual video practices during a film screening at 2:00 PM. Kablunât 2016 10min 32 sec Glenn Gear Based on an Inuit legend from Labrador, “Kablunât” explores the complex and intersecting histories of early Inuit and Settler life on the North Atlantic coast. Employing archival images, animation, collage, and time-lapse video, the retelling of this origin story unfolds in a poetic space between past and present, myth and lived experience.BOOTWMN 2015 11 minutes Paige Gratland Deana McGuffin is a third generation New Mexico boot maker, hand-crafting wearable pieces of art. When she is approached by a Canadian artist and a San Franciscan tattooer to create a gay themed cowboy boot, a story unravels of a unique collaboration that takes them to the heart of cowboy country in Northern Texas. BOOTWMN is a heart-warming, intimate and at times funny portrait of the queering of a traditional art form.Handsome Devil 2025 Animated music video Daniel Barrow This music video in romantic pink and green was created used Amiga software from the late 1980s (DeluxePaint 4). A green-skinned “sissy devil” probes the depths of internet intelligence, composing an “advanced search” on an antiquated search engine (using the lyrics of the Ballet’s song). Simultaneously, a naked, green, feminine artist traces the contours of her devilish destiny on her sketch pad, and then within an imaginary dating app. The “advanced search” becomes a kind of contemporary, queer, love poem.Handsome Devil premiered at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in 2024.LEARN MOREPERFORMANCE Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023) Written, Directed & Performed by Daniel Barrow Saturday, August 1, 2026, at 7:00pm 90 minutes, multi-media presentation Free to attendIn addition to their Paper Doll Poems workshop, artist-in-residence Daniel Barrow presents a multi-media performance entitled Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023) on Saturday, August 1, 2026, at 7:00pm. In the late ’70s and throughout the 80s, Winnipeg experienced a “golden age” of public access television. The performance draws on Barrow’s decades-long research and independent archive of Winnipeg’s public access television from the late 1970s and 80s presented as a 90-minute hybrid storytelling performance. Winnipeg Babysitter is an archival project that restores a previously lost history. Daniel Barrow travels to each screening providing an overhead projected commentary/context, tracing the histories of public access television in Manitoba, and describing the various and outrageous biographies of each television producer and personality. Presented at venues such as The Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, La Maison Rouge (Paris) and Light Industry (Brooklyn), Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023) features a live commentary by the artist from an overhead projector over excerpts of archival television. Barrow’s performance is not exclusively an exercise in nostalgia—it is also a critical gesture with deep relevance to our contemporary media landscape. Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023) foregrounds the politics of visibility and the value of infrastructures that support creativity without commodification. This performance offers audiences with a suggestion that the future of media art may benefit from looking back at a moment when the signal was open, and the screen truly belonged to the public. Join us at Oxygen Art Centre on Saturday, August 1, 2026, at 7:00pm for Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023).LEARN MOREWORKSHOP Interaction of Colour For Weavers Workshopwith Paige Gratland Wednesday, August 5, 2026,from 6:00 – 8:00pm Register to attend, Spaces limited.All materials provided.This workshop will explore colour theory as it applies to weaving. Join artist in residence, Paige Gratland, as she shares some of her research on the topic and leads the group through some off-loom activities to create certain visual effect through yarn winding. The concepts aim to help participants better understand colour and how to work with it. Paige Gratland learned to weave in 2019 at the Richmond Weavers and Spinners Guild and this topic is part of her research for her final year at the Master Weaver Program at Olds College.REGISTERABOUT THE ARTISTSDaniel Barrow is a genderfluid, Montreal-based storyteller/artist uses simple (often antiquated) technologies to present pictorial narratives by merging the methods of cinema, comics, animation, and magic lantern shows. They are best known for adapting comic book narratives to “manual” forms of animation by manipulating drawings on an overhead projector. In recent years, they have been developing a unique pictorial language which they referred to as “paper doll poems”.Glenn Gear is an Indigiqueer filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist of mixed Inuit heritage living in Montréal. He is originally from Corner Brook Newfoundland and has family throughout Labrador and Nunatsiavut. His research creation-practice is shaped by Inuit ways of learning and knowing, through a hands-on and tactile approach incorporating installation, animation, photography, bead work, and the use of traditional materials such as sealskin.Paige Gratland is a visual artist and filmmaker producing projects and objects that engage with social history, design and craft practices. She learned to weave in 2019 at the Richmond Weavers and Spinners Guild and is currently completing the Master Weaver Program at Olds College. She is also 1/3 of the artist group Three Way Mirror with Daniel Barrow and Glenn Gear. LEARN MORE NEW EMPLOYEEOxygen Art Centre welcomes Dara van der Meulen in the role of Residency Coordinator this summer through the Canada Summer Jobs program! Dara joins the artist-run centre to support the summer residency, conduct research and arts administration for upcoming programs, and complete a creative project over their 9-week contract.

Summer Residency, Film Screening, Workshop, Performance, O2 Exhibition + more Donate! Support your artist-run centre RESIDENCYSummer Residency 𝕋𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕪 𝕄𝕚𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕣Daniel Barrow, Glenn Gear, Paige Gratland July 3, 2026 – August 7, 2026 Open Studio events Saturday, July 18, 2026, from 1:00 – 3:00pm > Film screening at 2:00pm Saturday, August 1, 2026, from 1:00 – 3:00pm Workshop Paper Doll Poems workshop with Daniel Barrow Wednesday, July 29, 2026, at 6:00pm Registration required Performance Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023) Written, Directed & Performed by Daniel Barrow Saturday, August 1, 2026, at 7:00pm 90 minutes, multi-media presentation All events are free to attend. Oxygen Art Centre is currently hosting the artist collective, Three Way Mirror, from July 3, 2026, to August 7, 2026. Three Way Mirror is composed of artists Daniel Barrow (QC), Glenn Gear (QC), and Paige Gratland (BC). The artists visit Nelson from Montréal and Vancouver for a six-week residency where they will develop their textile practices individually and collectively in what they call a craft ‘triangle’. For artists who belong to a social group that has often been marginalized, it is unsurprising that they are drawn to similarly marginalized crafts, art forms that link the personal and the political. Traditionally, a craft circle is a non-competitive circle of production where artists can create work and act on their concern for social justice. Three Way Mirror embraces this concept through a craft triangle where the artists create an intersectional queer space for textiles production and dialogue. The public are invited to attend two informal open studio events during the residency period to engage with the artists and encounter works-in-progress. Open studio events are scheduled for Saturday, July 18, 2026, and Saturday, August 1, 2026, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. Admission is free. Everyone welcome to attend. During their residency, the artists present two open studio events, a film screening, workshop, and performance. Learn about the upcoming events below and on Oxygen’s website. All events are free to attend. This program is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the BC Arts Council, the Vancouver Foundation, and the Regional District of Central Kootenay ReDi program. Special thanks to Dara van der Meulen for their support as Residency Coordinator (Canada Summer Jobs) and Kenton Doupe for their support as Gallery Preparator and Photographer.FILM SCREENING During the Saturday, July 18, 2026, Open Studio event, the artists share their individual video practices during a film screening at 2:00 PM. Kablunât 2016 10min 32 sec Glenn Gear Based on an Inuit legend from Labrador, “Kablunât” explores the complex and intersecting histories of early Inuit and Settler life on the North Atlantic coast. Employing archival images, animation, collage, and time-lapse video, the retelling of this origin story unfolds in a poetic space between past and present, myth and lived experience.Phranc: The Butch Closet 2026 21 minutes with English subtitles Paige Gratland Legendary artist and musician Phranc makes beautiful sculptures from hand-painted paper and cardboard that trace the longing and belonging embedded in objects and clothing. The film maps connections between Phranc’s personal history, archive, and memories, revealing the stories behind each piece.Handsome Devil 2025 Animated music video Daniel Barrow This music video in romantic pink and green was created used Amiga software from the late 1980s (DeluxePaint 4). A green-skinned “sissy devil” probes the depths of internet intelligence, composing an “advanced search” on an antiquated search engine (using the lyrics of the Ballet’s song). Simultaneously, a naked, green, feminine artist traces the contours of her devilish destiny on her sketch pad, and then within an imaginary dating app. The “advanced search” becomes a kind of contemporary, queer, love poem.Handsome Devil premiered at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in 2024.LEARN MOREWORKSHOPPaper Doll Poems workshop with Daniel Barrow Wednesday, July 29, 2026, at 6:00pm Registration requiredFree to attend Participants will work with paper collaging techniques developed by the artist through their “paper doll poems” practice, which combines Barrow’s interests in the traditions of folk poetry and limericks, butterfly collections, emoji chains and pictographic languages.  Barrow’s collaged pictographic poems have evolved over the past two years to explore symmetry in palindromic language, incorporating many precepts of floriography––the cryptological system of communication through the exchange of bouquets of flowers. The artist is particularly interested in the floriography which flourished in the 19th-century, when floral arrangements permitted the sender to express feelings which were forbidden to be spoken aloud in Victorian society. Participants can expect to spend time with the artist making and learning techniques together in collage and composition. This workshop is free to attend and limited to six participants. All materials and tools will be provided. Registration is required to attend.REGISTERPERFORMANCE Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023) Written, Directed & Performed by Daniel Barrow Saturday, August 1, 2026, at 7:00pm 90 minutes, multi-media presentation Free to attendIn addition to their Paper Doll Poems workshop, artist-in-residence Daniel Barrow presents a multi-media performance entitled Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023) on Saturday, August 1, 2026, at 7:00pm. In the late ’70s and throughout the 80s, Winnipeg experienced a “golden age” of public access television. The performance draws on Barrow’s decades-long research and independent archive of Winnipeg’s public access television from the late 1970s and 80s presented as a 90-minute hybrid storytelling performance. Winnipeg Babysitter is an archival project that restores a previously lost history. Daniel Barrow travels to each screening providing an overhead projected commentary/context, tracing the histories of public access television in Manitoba, and describing the various and outrageous biographies of each television producer and personality. Presented at venues such as The Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, La Maison Rouge (Paris) and Light Industry (Brooklyn), Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023) features a live commentary by the artist from an overhead projector over excerpts of archival television. Barrow’s performance is not exclusively an exercise in nostalgia—it is also a critical gesture with deep relevance to our contemporary media landscape. Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023) foregrounds the politics of visibility and the value of infrastructures that support creativity without commodification. This performance offers audiences with a suggestion that the future of media art may benefit from looking back at a moment when the signal was open, and the screen truly belonged to the public. Join us at Oxygen Art Centre on Saturday, August 1, 2026, at 7:00pm for Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023).LEARN MOREABOUT THE ARTISTSDaniel Barrow is a genderfluid, Montreal-based storyteller/artist uses simple (often antiquated) technologies to present pictorial narratives by merging the methods of cinema, comics, animation, and magic lantern shows. They are best known for adapting comic book narratives to “manual” forms of animation by manipulating drawings on an overhead projector. In recent years, they have been developing a unique pictorial language which they referred to as “paper doll poems”.Glenn Gear is an Indigiqueer filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist of mixed Inuit heritage living in Montréal. He is originally from Corner Brook Newfoundland and has family throughout Labrador and Nunatsiavut. His research creation-practice is shaped by Inuit ways of learning and knowing, through a hands-on and tactile approach incorporating installation, animation, photography, bead work, and the use of traditional materials such as sealskin.Paige Gratland is a visual artist and filmmaker producing projects and objects that engage with social history, design and craft practices. She learned to weave in 2019 at the Richmond Weavers and Spinners Guild and is currently completing the Master Weaver Program at Olds College. She is also 1/3 of the artist group Three Way Mirror with Daniel Barrow and Glenn Gear. LEARN MORE NEW EMPLOYEE

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Three Way Mirror: Daniel Barrow, Glenn Gear, Paige Gratland

Summer Residency

3 July – 7 August 2026

Open Studio events

Saturday, July 18, 2026, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm

Saturday, August 1, 2026, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm

Paper Doll Poems workshop with Daniel Barrow

Wednesday, July 29, 2026, at 6:00pmFree to attend, Registration required

Performance

Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023)

Daniel Barrow

Saturday, August 1, 2026, at 7:00pm

90 minutes, multi-media presentation

Free to attend

Oxygen Art Centre is currently hosting the artist collective, Three Way Mirror, from July 3, 2026, to August 7, 2026. Three Way Mirror is composed of artists Daniel Barrow (QC), Glenn Gear (QC), and Paige Gratland (BC).

The artists visit Nelson from Montréal and Vancouver for a six-week residency where they develop their textile practices individually and collectively in what they call a craft ‘triangle’.

During their residency, the artist-run centre will open to the public for a series of public events, including two open studio events, a workshop and a performance.

The public are invited to attend two informal open studio events during the residency period to engage with the artists and encounter works-in-progress. Open studio events are scheduled for Saturday, July 18, 2026, and Saturday, August 1, 2026, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. Admission is free. Everyone welcome to attend.

Artist Daniel Barrow hosts a paper doll poem workshop on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, at 6:00pm. This workshop is free to attend; however, registration is required and spaces limited. Participants will work with paper collaging techniques developed by the artist through their “paper doll poems” practice, which combines Barrow’s interests in the traditions of folk poetry and limericks, butterfly collections, emoji chains and pictographic languages.  

Barrow’s collaged pictographic poems have evolved over the past two years to explore symmetry in palindromic language, incorporating many precepts of floriography––the cryptological system of communication through the exchange of bouquets of flowers. Participants can expect to spend time with the artist making and learning techniques together in collage and composition. To attend, please complete the online registration form available via Oxygen’s website.

In addition to their workshop, Barrow presents a multi-media performance entitled Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023) on Saturday, August 1, 2026, at 7:00pm. The performance draws on their decades-long research and independent archive of Winnipeg’s public access television from the late 1970s and 80s presented as a 90-minute hybrid storytelling performance.

Presented at venues such as The Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, La Maison Rouge (Paris) and Light Industry (Brooklyn), Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023) features a live commentary by the artist from an overhead projector over excerpts of archival television.

Barrow’s performance is not exclusively an exercise in nostalgia—it is also a critical gesture with deep relevance to our contemporary media landscape. Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023) foregrounds the politics of visibility and the value of infrastructures that support creativity without commodification. This performance offers audiences with a suggestion that the future of media art may benefit from looking back at a moment when the signal was open, and the screen truly belonged to the public.

The public are invited to attend Daniel Barrow’s Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023) performance on Saturday, August 1, 2026, at 7:00pm at Oxygen Art Centre. This event is free to attend. Everyone welcome.

In addition to these public events, artists Glenn Gear and Paige Gratland make connections within the craft and textile community in Nelson to explore techniques in wet felting and colour composition in weaving. While these events will be private for select artists, the public will be invited to engage in their creative practices through the open studio events.

The overarching residency considers how traditional crafts can convey queer stories and community, and how queer signifiers and strategies can express intersectional identities through conceptual craft-based practices. For each artist this has been a natural progression, resulting in the production of woven queer colourways (Gratland), glitter-bombs sealskins (Gear) and paper-doll poems (Barrow).

The artist collective Three Way Mirror will be in residence at Oxygen Art Centre from July 3, 2026, to August 7, 2026.  The gallery will be open to the public for two Open Studio events on Saturday, July 18, 2026, and Saturday, August 1, 2026, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm.

Join Daniel Barrow in their Paper Doll Poem workshop on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, at 6:00pm. Registration is required. Spaces are limited. All materials and tools provided.

Daniel Barrow’s performance Winnipeg Baby (2005-2023) will be presented on Saturday, August 1, 2026, at 7:00pm.

Oxygen Art Centre is located at #3-320 Vernon Street along the alleyway behind Baker Street in Nelson, British Columbia. More information about how to access the facility can be found on Oxygen’s website or by contacting info@oxygenartcentre.org. Admission to all events is free. 

This program is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the BC Arts Council, the Vancouver Foundation, and the Regional District of Central Kootenay ReDi program. Special thanks to Dara van der Meulen for their support as Residency Coordinator (Canada Summer Jobs) and Kenton Doupe for their support as Gallery Preparator and Photographer.

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Image Credit (above): Daniel Barrow, “Paper doll poem,” Hand-dyed and cut paper dolls pinned to screen-printed matboard, 102 x 81 cm; Courtesy the Artist

Image Credit (below): Daniel Barrow, “Natalie Kiss” (video still) from Winnipeg Babysitter (2005-2023), Performance; Courtesy the Artist

Press Contact:

Julia Prudhomme

Executive Director

Oxygen Art Centre

info@oxygenartcentre.org

Artist Biographies:

Daniel Barrow is a genderfluid, Tiohtià:ke / Montreal-based storyteller/artist/filmmaker who has employed parallel strategies in their approach to the tradition of paper dolls – inventing “narrative architectures” and “paper doll poems” that grapple with the dollhouse/paper doll.   

Glenn Gear is an Indigiqueer filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist of mixed Inuit heritage currently living in Montréal. He is originally from Corner Brook Newfoundland and has family throughout Nunatsiavut. His practice is grounded in research creation shaped by Inuit and Indigenous ways of knowing – often employing the use of animation, photo archives, painting, beading, and work with traditional materials such as sealskin.

Paige Gratland is a visual artist and filmmaker producing projects and objects that engage with social history, design and craft practices. She learned to weave in 2019 at the Richmond Weavers and Spinners Guild and is currently completing the Master Weaver Program at Olds College. She is also 1/3 of the artist group Three Way Mirror with Daniel Barrow and Glenn Gear.

RESIDENCY

Summer Residency 𝕋𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕪 𝕄𝕚𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕣Daniel Barrow, Glenn Gear, Paige Gratland July 3, 2026 – August 7, 2026

Oxygen Art Centre excitedly announces their summer residency program with artist collective, Three Way Mirror, from July 3, 2026, to August 7, 2026. Three Way Mirror is composed of artists Daniel Barrow (QC), Glenn Gear (QC), and Paige Gratland (BC). The artists visit Nelson from Montréal and Vancouver for a six-week residency where they will develop their textile practices individually and collectively in what they call a craft ‘triangle’. For artists who belong to a social group that has often been marginalized, it is unsurprising that they are drawn to similarly marginalized crafts, art forms that link the personal and the political.  Traditionally, a craft circle is a non-competitive circle of production where artists can create work and act on their concern for social justice. Three Way Mirror embraces this concept through a craft triangle where the artists create an intersectional queer space for textiles production and dialogue. The public are invited to attend two informal open studio events during the residency period to engage with the artists and encounter works-in-progress. Open studio events are scheduled for Saturday, July 18, 2026, and Saturday, August 1, 2026, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm.Admission is free. Everyone welcome to attend. The residency will consider how traditional crafts can convey queer stories and community, and how queer signifiers and strategies can express intersectional identities through conceptual craft-based practices. For each artist this has been a natural progression, resulting in the production of woven ueer colourways (Gratland), glitter-bombs sealskins (Gear) and paper-doll poems (Barrow).  The artist collective Three Way Mirror will be in residence at Oxygen Art Centre from July 3, 2026, to August 7, 2026. The gallery will be open to the public for two Open Studio events on Saturday, July 18, 2026, and Saturday, August 1, 2026, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. Admission is free.  This program is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the BC Arts Council, the Vancouver Foundation, and the Regional District of Central Kootenay ReDi program. Special thanks to Dara van der Meulen for their support as Residency Coordinator (Canada Summer Jobs) and Kenton Doupe for their support as Gallery Preparator and Photographer.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Daniel Barrow is a genderfluid, Montreal-based storyteller/artist uses simple (often antiquated) technologies to present pictorial narratives by merging the methods of cinema, comics, animation, and magic lantern shows. They are best known for adapting comic book narratives to “manual” forms of animation by manipulating drawings on an overhead projector. In recent years, they have been developing a unique pictorial language which they referred to as “paper doll poems”.

Glenn Gear is an Indigiqueer filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist of mixed Inuit heritage living in Montréal. He is originally from Corner Brook Newfoundland and has family throughout Labrador and Nunatsiavut. His research creation-practice is shaped by Inuit ways of learning and knowing, through a hands-on and tactile approach incorporating installation, animation, photography, bead work, and the use of traditional materials such as sealskin.

Paige Gratland is a visual artist and filmmaker producing projects and objects that engage with social history, design and craft practices. She learned to weave in 2019 at the Richmond Weavers and Spinners Guild and is currently completing the Master Weaver Program at Olds College. She is also 1/3 of the artist group Three Way Mirror with Daniel Barrow and Glenn Gear.

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NEW EMPLOYEE

Oxygen Art Centre welcomes Dara van der Meulen in the role of Residency Coordinator this summer through the Canada Summer Jobs program! Dara joins the artist-run centre to support the summer residency, conduct research and arts administration for upcoming programs, and complete a creative project over their 9-week contract.

Dara van der Meulen (they/she) is an artist and student at the Kutenai Art Therapy Institute. As a queer, neurodivergent artist, Dara is a lover of and advocate for offbeat and unconventional art processes. This focus extends into her therapeutic practice, as well. Their goal with every arts-based position they take on is to provide a fun, safe, and accessible environment for those engaged in the vulnerability of play and creativity. Dara is excited to dive further into Nelson’s art community as the Residency Coordinator at Oxygen for the summer. Outside of work you can usually find her climbing rocks with friends, scribbling in a tiny journal, or with her nose in a road-side free pile.

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O2 EXHIBITION

Ecology of ClothWest Kootenay Fibreshed Artist Collective:Danielle Soucie + Tracy Fillion11 June – 22 August 2026Raw Linen, Hand processed, Locally grown

Artist Statement This story begins in the soils of Argenta. Flax seeds are pressed into the soil and wait. Through sun, rain, drought, and time, it grows into a slender plant. Months later, it is pulled from the earth by hand, bundled, retted, broken, scutched, and hackled using handmade tools. Slowly, the fibre hidden within the stalk is revealed. The transformation from plant to thread unfolds through hundreds of small actions. Over many months, Danielle Soucie guides the flax from seed to spun thread, revealing the fibre hidden within the stalk and drawing it into yarn by hand. The work is repetitive, physical, and often unforgiving. The flax passes through hands again and again. It catches on skin. It leaves traces of itself behind. Days become weeks. Weeks become months. Gradually, fibre becomes thread. From there, the material passes into Tracy Fillion’s hands, where the next chapter of its story begins. At the loom, the linen reveals a character unlike commercially processed fibre. It tangles. It mats. It resists. Rather than moving smoothly through the loom, it demands attention, adaptation, and care. The material meets the maker at every stage of the process. In that resistance, something becomes visible. Much of the cloth that surrounds us arrives disconnected from its origins. We encounter it only at the end of its journey, long after the labour, land, weather, and relationships that made it possible have been obscured. This linen carries those histories with it. The fibre retains the memory of the garden where it grew, the handmade tools that transformed it, the seasons that shaped it, and the hands that guided it from plant to cloth. The three woven panels that make up this installation are the result of that journey. Their layered transparency reflects the many stages of transformation that occur between seed and textile. Each layer reveals and conceals the others, much like the processes that are often hidden within contemporary cloth production. In a culture shaped by speed, convenience, and disposability, this work offers another way of understanding material. It asks us to slow down and consider the lives embedded within the things we use. It invites us to see cloth not as a product, but as an accumulation of relationships between soil, plant, weather, labour, knowledge, and time. More than an aesthetic object, the installation celebrates the resilience and beauty of natural materials grown and processed within our bioregion. It reflects the connections between art, land stewardship, and sustainable fibre systems, offering a moment of quiet reflection. Through linen, the work asks us to reconsider the role of natural fibres in contemporary life and to recognize cloth not as something separate from land, labour, or ecology, but as an expression of relationship.

About the West Kootenay Fibreshed + ArtistsThe West Kootenay Fibreshed is a not-for-profit organization working to strengthen regional fibre systems from soil to soil. By connecting growers, processors, artists, makers, and community members, the Fibreshed supports local fibre production, natural dyeing, textile education, and the revival of place-based skills. Rooted in the belief that textiles can be grown, processed, created, used, and returned to the earth within a single bioregion, the West Kootenay Fibreshed fosters relationships between land, material, and community. Through workshops, mentorships, gatherings, and collaborative projects, it seeks to build a resilient regional fibre culture that honours both ecological stewardship and creative expression.For this exhibition, artists Tracy Fillion and Danielle Soucie represent the collective, showcasing this raw linen artwork.Learn more about the West Kootenay Fibreshed Danielle Soucie is a fibre artist, community organizer, and the Director of the West Kootenay Fibreshed. Their work explores the relationship between land, material, and community through fibre arts, regenerative textile systems, and place-based education. Working with wool, locally grown fibres, natural dyes, and slow textile processes, Danielle is interested in how making can deepen our relationship to place and reveal the ecological, cultural, and relational stories held within materials. Their practice is rooted in the soil-to-soil cycle of natural fibres and asks what it means to create in a way that is reciprocal, regionally grounded, and connected to the living systems that sustain us. Through both their artistic work and community organizing, Danielle supports opportunities for skill-sharing, material literacy, and rural creative networks across the West Kootenay bioregion. Tracy Fillion is a textile artist whose practice integrates weaving, plant dyeing, and garment construction. Working with natural fibres and dyes, she creates textiles through slow, hands-on processes that foreground care for material and place. Her work intends to reflect on the social, political, and environmental conditions shaping the present moment, using textiles as a language to consider labour, care, and resilience while honouring traditions of making that connect people, land, and community. In addition to her studio practice, Fillion teaches weaving at a local college and facilitates workshops in plant dyeing. An active community member, volunteering on the boards of the Slocan Valley Threads Guild and educator with the West Kootenay Fibreshed. Her work reflects an ongoing commitment to textiles as a site of resistance, ecological awareness, and thoughtful engagement with contemporary social and environmental realities.

Located on the Stanley Avenue side of the Nelson Trading Company building (430 Baker Street) in downtown Nelson, B.C., O2 is a window-turned-gallery that serves as an extension of Oxygen Art Centre’s contemporary art programming. This program is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the BC Arts Council, the Vancouver Foundation, and the Regional District of Central Kootenay ReDi program.

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Support your artist-run centre by becoming an Oxygen Art Centre Member. Oxygen Memberships run from $2 (Senior/Student) to $5 (Single) to $10 (Families) and significantly help our organization. Become a member today! MEMBERSHIP BENEFITSEvents, Tours and Artist TalksVolunteer, Networking and Mentorship ExperienceRegular mailings and newslettersVoting Privileges at Oxygen Art Centre’s AGMDiscounted rental rate to document artwork at Oxygen’s studioAccess to current Exhibition Publications and CataloguesArtist-in-Residence and Exhibition ToursRegister ONLINE or by MAIL Already a Member? Consider making a Donation.

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FOR   IMMEDIATE   RELEASE: OXYGEN WELCOMES QUEER TEXTILE ARTISTS FOR SUMMER RESIDENCY

Three Way Mirror: Daniel Barrow, Glenn Gear, Paige Gratland

Summer Residency

3 July – 7 August 2026

Oxygen Art Centre excitedly announces their summer residency program with artist collective, Three Way Mirror, from July 3, 2026, to August 7, 2026. Three Way Mirror is composed of artists Daniel Barrow (QC), Glenn Gear (QC), and Paige Gratland (BC).

The artists visit Nelson from Montréal and Vancouver for a six-week residency where they will develop their textile practices individually and collectively in what they call a craft ‘triangle’.

For artists who belong to a social group that has often been marginalized, it is unsurprising that they are drawn to similarly marginalized crafts, art forms that link the personal and the political.

Traditionally, a craft circle is a non-competitive circle of production where artists can create work and act on their concern for social justice. Three Way Mirror embraces this concept through a craft triangle where the artists create an intersectional queer space for textiles production and dialogue.

The public are invited to attend two informal open studio events during the residency period to engage with the artists and encounter works-in-progress. Open studio events are scheduled for Saturday, July 18, 2026, and Saturday, August 1, 2026, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. Admission is free. Everyone welcome to attend.

The residency will consider how traditional crafts can convey queer stories and community, and how queer signifiers and strategies can express intersectional identities through conceptual craft-based practices.

For each artist this has been a natural progression, resulting in the production of woven ueer colourways (Gratland), glitter-bombs sealskins (Gear) and paper-doll poems (Barrow).

The artist collective Three Way Mirror will be in residence at Oxygen Art Centre from July 3, 2026, to August 7, 2026.  The gallery will be open to the public for two Open Studio events on Saturday, July 18, 2026, and Saturday, August 1, 2026, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. Admission is free. 

This program is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the BC Arts Council, the Vancouver Foundation, and the Regional District of Central Kootenay ReDi program. Special thanks to Dara van der Meulen for their support as Residency Coordinator (Canada Summer Jobs) and Kenton Doupe for their support as Gallery Preparator and Photographer.

Oxygen Art Centre is located at #3-320 Vernon Street along the alleyway behind Baker Street in Nelson, British Columbia. More information about how to access the facility can be found on Oxygen’s website or by contacting info@oxygenartcentre.org.

Image Credit (above): Daniel Barrow (left), Glenn Gear (centre), Paige Gratland (right); Artist portraits, Courtesy the Artists; 2026.

Image Credit (below): Glenn Gear, Ivaluk Ullugiallu (Sinew & Stars), 2023, mural on walls, red braided cord, video projection, sound, The Rooms, St. John’s, NL

Artist Biographies:

Daniel Barrow is a genderfluid, Tiohtià:ke / Montreal-based storyteller/artist/filmmaker who has employed parallel strategies in their approach to the tradition of paper dolls – inventing “narrative architectures” and “paper doll poems” that grapple with the dollhouse/paper doll.   

Glenn Gear is an Indigiqueer filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist of mixed Inuit heritage currently living in Montréal. He is originally from Corner Brook Newfoundland and has family throughout Nunatsiavut. His practice is grounded in research creation shaped by Inuit and Indigenous ways of knowing – often employing the use of animation, photo archives, painting, beading, and work with traditional materials such as sealskin.

Paige Gratland is a visual artist and filmmaker. Her work is informed by social history and design, producing projects and objects that explore craft practices, intergenerational exchange and queer vernaculars. She learned to weave in 2019 at the Richmond Weavers and Spinners Guild (British Columbia) and is currently enrolled in the Master Weaver Program at Olds College (Alberta). She is currently working on her third documentary about artist and musician Phranc.

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!RAFFLE!, Gr.9 Group Exhibition, Artist Talk, Education, Exhibition + more Donate! Support your artist-run centre !RAFFLE! Important Dates Final ticket sales deadline: June 19, 2026, at 5:00:00 p.m. PT Prize Raffle draw: June 19, 2026, at 7:00:00 p.m. PT Online Raffle link: https://oxygenartcentre.rafflenexus.com/ Oxygen Art Centre’s Fundraising committee announces the launch of a Raffle for the artist-run centre! Starting Friday, May 15, 2026, community members are invited to purchase raffle tickets to be eligible to win six exciting prize packages! To participate, visit the online raffle website, https://oxygenartcentre.rafflenexus.com/, to purchase a Single Ticket for $10, a 3-Ticket Pack for $25, or a 10-Ticket Pack for $50. All proceeds go to Oxygen Art Centre to support ongoing contemporary art programming in Nelson, BC. The Raffle is a great way for folks to support the artist-run centre with an added perk of winning one of six incredible prize packages. All prizes are generously donated by local businesses totalling to 20 incredible prizes. Each prize is bundled into thematic packages, boasting valuations up to $960! Packages serve a variety of interests, including the “Design & Build Prize Package” featuring a 2-hour consultation with Marc Boutin Architect, a 2-hour consultation or work with Bowick Electric, and a $250 gift card toward the Nelson Home Hardware Building Centre. Hit the slopes, climb, row, and explore with this all-season adventure pack—featuring Whitewater lift tickets, climbing, fitness, and outdoor gear for your next Kootenay adventure in the “Adventure Pack”. This package features passes and gift cards to Whitewater Ski Resort, the Cube Climbing Centre, Valhalla Pure Outfitters, Nelson Rowing Club, and the Nelson and District Community Centre Gym and Pool.   The “Dream Retreat” includes a three-night stay at the Fibonacci Tiny House and a gift card to L&C French Bakery, and the “Arts All Access” provides full season access to live performances and inspiring exhibitions at The Capitol Theatre and the Nelson Museum Archives and Gallery. Get hands-on creative experience and supplies to spark your next artistic project in the “Maker’s Kit” package towards art classes at Oxygen Art Centre and MUD Ceramics, and a gift card to Cowan’s Office Supplies Ltd. Finally, the “Taste of Nelson” package boasts a delicious selection of local favourites and flavours in the community, including gift cards to Nelson Olive Oil Co., Red Light Ramen Restaurant, Sprout Plant-based Eatery, and Kootenay Co-op Grocery, totalling $338 value. With something for everyone, Oxygen’s Raffle is an exciting opportunity for folks to support their artist-run centre and engage with local businesses by winning one of six exciting prize packages. Raffle ticket sales close on June 19, 2026, at 5:00 PM PT. The draw will take place at Oxygen Art Centre on June 19, 2026, at 7:00 PM PT. This is the second iteration of Oxygen’s Raffle. The artist-run centre’s first raffle was held last spring and raised over $4,000 for the arts education program. This raffle is coordinated by Oxygen’s amazing volunteer fundraising committee. Thank you to committee members, Emilie Leblanc-Kromberg, Erica Konrad, Allison Morgan, Riya Garg, and Stephanie Ostrander for their dedication and coordination, and to our sponsors for their generosity in making this fundraising campaign possible. Oxygen’s Raffle will be open to the public from May 15, 2026, to June 19, 2026. Participants from British Columbia who are over 19 years of age are invited to participate. This raffle is facilitated under the BC Gaming License no.173723. OUR SPONSORSTICKETS  GR.9 GROUP EXHIBITIONExquisite Audacity Gr.9 Trafalgar Middle School Group Exhibition Opening Reception: Wednesday, May 20, 2026 @ 5:00PM Exhibition on view:Thursday, May 21 – Saturday, May 23, 1-5PMAdmission is freeOxygen Art Centre is delighted to present the group exhibition, Exquisite Audacity, featuring artworks by Sharon Inkpen’s Grade Nine students from Trafalgar Middle School. To be audacious means to be bold — to take risks, challenge yourself, and step beyond what feels safe or familiar. To be exquisite means something deeply beautiful, carefully crafted, and full of meaning. Together, these words capture the spirit of this Grade 9 art cohort and the work they have created. This student group exhibition is a celebration of young artists in our community and takes place during Oxygen’s spring semester. Many thanks to Sharon Inkpen, Art Teacher, for supporting these artists and working with Oxygen Art Centre’s team to make this group exhibition possible. Special thanks to SaveOn Foods and Positive Apparel for their generous support. LEARN MORE  ARTIST TALK Genevieve Robertson Artist Talk Friday, June 5, 2026doors @ 5:45 PM / talk @ 6:00 PM free to attendJoin us on Friday, June 5, 2026 at 6:00 PM for an Artist Talk with Genevieve Robertson. The event is an extension of Robertson’s Fall 2025 residency at the artist-run centre to share the new body of work developed during this time. Genevieve Robertson was artist-in-residence at Oxygen Art Centre from November 12, 2025, to December 20, 2025. Robertson works at the intersection of visual art and environmental studies. Her practice is grounded in drawing and painting, extending to video, installation, and various forms of collective work and collaboration. Through long-term place-based research projects, her work explores anthropogenic impacts on ecology and the climate, and the intelligence and interconnection of the life systems of which we are part. This event is free to attend. Doors open at 5:45PM. The talk begins at 6:00PM and will include a short question and answer period at the conclusion of Robertson’s talk. The Artist Talk will introduce Robertson’s artistic practice, as well as share process-based explorations from her residency and resultant exhibition at the Midlands Art Centre in the UK entitled “Under the Orange Sticks of the Sun,” currently on view this Spring 2026. Robertson is also currently working with Oxygen Art Centre to offer an online mentorship program entitled “Hedge-rider” this Summer to three emerging, remotely located artists.LEARN MORE EDUCATIONLino printing-reduction technique Instructor: Myra Rasmussen Structure: 1 class Date: Sunday, June 7, 2026 Time: 10:00am-4:00pm Fee: $120.00REGISTER Colour & Composition: Bringing Still-Life to Life Instructor:Catherine McIntosh Structure: 1 class Date: Saturday, June 13, 2026 Time: 12:30pm to 4:00pm Fee: $100.00 (materials incl)REGISTERCollaging with personal photos Instructor: Melissa Owen Structure: 1 class Date: Saturday, June 6, 2026 Time: 11:00am to 3:00pm Fee: $70.00 (materials incl)REGISTERPrintmaking Workshop Instructor:Catherine McIntosh Structure: 4 classes Dates: Thursday, May 28, June 4, 11, 18, 2026 Time: 6:00pm to 8:00pm Fee: $190.00 (materials incl)REGISTERArt Speak /part two/ Facilitator:Emilie Leblanc Kromberg Structure: 4 classes Dates: Monday, May 25, June 1, 8, 15, 2025 Time: 6:00 pm – 8:00pm Fee: $65.00Attendance in ArtSpeak part one is *not* required.  REGISTERBe Not Afeared: A Poetry Workshop for Beginners (Online) Instructor: Rayya Liebich Structure: 1 class

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