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Lorna Mills and Sally McKay
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Sally & I have invited several people to write guest posts (under their own names or pseudonyms), today we are pleased to present our first guest post from writer Lisa Myers
Charlene Vickers: Ominjimendaan/ to remember
While in Vancouver this spring I made a point to see Ominjimendaan at Grunt gallery. The intense presence of Charlene Vickers' art installation created an atmosphere in the gallery space that invited me in to stay awhile. In the Grunt produced video, Vickers describes her original intention of this work to address "missing women, the reality of violence, and how to represent that in sculptural form." Through Vickers' use of materials, she weaves together personal narratives that sensitively connect ideas about finding one's way home, and forms of protection.
Vickers' series of wrapped staffs titled Diviners Grasses (2010), made of an arrangement of grasses bound with white linen, have hair secured to the tops and braids of twine attached to the bottom. Seemingly, the twine serves as grass-hair, and to me this evokes the question: what remains when something/someone is lost, and in the wake of loss, what transforms? Vickers' cedar spear-like carvings leaned against the wall like weapons quietly protecting. Titled Diviners Cedar Spears (2010), this work brings to mind remembering as a form of protection and in this way acts as resistance. Remembering in the form of testimonials reveal marginalized histories, often involving trauma and the abuse of power.
From the artist's explanation, her turtle sculptures arranged on the floor of the gallery represented home and directed the way home. I was comforted by their visual reference to islands and they made me think of my home. During my visit to Grunt, I was engrossed with the stratum of meaning in Vickers' work, as this work reminded me of the life of materials and how their associations and functions have influence in my everyday life.
Charlene Vickers' solo exhibition Ominjimendaan/ to remember, at Grunt gallery ran from February 23 to March 31, 2012. Although the show has ended, its online presence provides various links to her work. Here's Charlene Vickers talking about her artist project Ominjimendaan.
-Lisa Myers
I'm in part 2 of a multi part article on GIF art for a Spanish publication, notodo.com (English translation) written by Pilar Díez
