FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Open Studio & Artist Talk with artists-in-residence Mary Babcock and Susan Andrews Grace on Saturday December 21 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM
Schedule of Events: Residency and Exhibition
Residency: 7 December- 21 December 2019
Open Studio and Artist Talk: 21 December 2019, 5:00-7:00 PM
Exhibition: 8 January – 1 February 2020
Closing reception: 31 January 2020, 7:00 – 9:00 PM
Gallery Hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 1:00-5:00 PM
Oxygen Art Centre welcomes Hawaii-based artist Mary Babcock as the newest artist in residence. Babcock will work collaboratively with local artist and writer, Susan Andrews Grace in stitching together a creative cautionary tale of dams, climate change and the Columbia River Basin. During the residency the artists will explore textiles, sound and space as they work towards the installation of new work. The residency will culminate in an exhibition under the title, “Oh, Columbia!”
The residency will run from December 7th to December 21st, 2019 with an open studio and artist talk taking place on Saturday, December 21st from 5 to 7pm. Both artists will be in attendance. Admission by donation.
Image: “Oh, Columbia!” Exhibition & Residency poster, Oxygen Art Centre
Artist Bios:
Mary Babcock is a professor of Sculpture and Expanded Practices and Chair of Graduate Program in Studio Art in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Hawaii in Manoa. She holds an MFA from the University of Arizona, BFA from University of Oregon, Ph.D in Psychology from University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Psychology from Cornell University. Her practice weaves together performance, textiles and mixed media into immersive installations. Babcock is interested in the intersection of art, contemplation and social activism. She holds the practice of mending as a central metaphor in her work. She has exhibited extensively in both solo and group shows around the world including France, England, Poland, Japan and Philippines. Her work is in public collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.
Susan Andrews Grace is a writer and visual artist. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Las Vegas and a BA in Philosophy from the University of Saskatchewan. Inanna Publications (Toronto, York University) will release her sixth book of poetry, “Hypatia’s Wake”, in the fall of 2020. She has written reviews and catalogue essays for artists in the Kootenay region. She was one of the founding faculty of Oxygen Art Centre and teaches Creative Writing there. Her visual art practice includes textile installation, mixed media, and sculpture. “Domestic Fetishes”, a solo exhibition, will open at Kootenay Gallery of Art on August 28, 2020. She has received several awards for her writing and visual art including grants from BC Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, and Columbia Kootenay Culture Alliance.