{"id":51399,"date":"2023-05-29T18:22:15","date_gmt":"2023-05-29T22:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/?p=51399"},"modified":"2023-05-30T20:38:50","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T00:38:50","slug":"on-new-ground-canadian-sculpture-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/?p=51399","title":{"rendered":"On New Ground \/ Canadian Sculpture Centre"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To celebrate its new location, the Sculptors Society of Canada hosted its inaugural exhibit On New Ground<\/em> <\/a>on May 20th at 18 Gristmill Lane in the Distillery District. The show brings together twelve artists with different approaches to sculpture, using ceramic, wood and bronze, and acrylic. I was fortunate to get to chat in detail with two artists about their work at the opening reception.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Window view of On New Ground<\/em> with sculptures of Edward Falkenberg (left) and Camie Geary-Martin (right). Courtesy of the Canadian Sculpture Centre<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judy Raymer Ivkoff\u2019s work investigates the unbridled energy that exists in natural materials like limestone. In Root Force<\/em>, Ivkoff uses the remnants of bronze castings she discovered in the dumpster outside Central Technical School in Toronto. The cast-offs, known as vents and spews, she tells me, have acquired incidental texture from failed castings. She tells me about travelling in Algonquin and observing the way roots force their way through rocks, causing them to crack and splinter, laying net-like patterns across their surfaces. The castaway pieces of bronze resemble these thick, bursting roots. \u201cEnergy, energy, energy\u201d \u2014 she says. Ivkoff uses a singular block of limestone that she has cut into three sectors in Root Force<\/em>. When looking at the sculpture, viewers can sense the energy that vibrates between the separate parts of the whole as they balance on top of one another, hovering over each other. She tells me that as a practice, sculpting requires the engagement of the whole body. Physical strength is required to work a drill press. Mindfulness is also involved as the soul becomes imbedded in the work throughout the process of creation. Other than the necessary drill press, Ivkoff believes in filling her studio solely with hand-held tools. The softly etched limestone lends a contemporary feel to her work, and yet we can feel that something ancient is hidden in her sculptures.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Judy Raymer Ivkoff with her sculpture Root Force, bronze and limestone (above) and details of Root Force (below). Photo: Shakuntala Fernandopulle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where Ivkoff draws from nature, Gordon Becker\u2019s work reflects a personal narrative. Dance of Generations<\/em> is a wood sculpture that commemorates Becker\u2019s mother who passed away. Becker hoped that the work would capture his mother\u2019s strength and grace. As he lovingly carved his mother\u2019s face from the wood, he began to see his sister, and then his niece \u2014 hence the title. The work is dynamic, as Becker follows the grain of the wood in connecting multiple pieces together to articulate movement. The woman is depicted in motion as her body leaps gracefully over a dance bar, representing her passing from one phase of life to the next. Becker allowed me to touch the work, feeling the soft texture of the wood. He includes every texture of his mother\u2019s skin, the way her flesh softly folds around her wrist where her hand clutches the bar and where her ankle touches the bar ready to leap over.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Gordon Becker with his work Dance of Generations, wood, pigment, steel, stone (above) and details of Dance of Generations (below). Photo: Shakuntala Fernandopulle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barbara Fletcher\u2019s work, a strikingly blue duo of acrylic sculptures, dazzles in the light that streams in through the windows of the Sculptors Society\u2019s new gallery space. The pair seem fluid as we view them at different angles, the oxygen bubbles in them seem to move and bob through the sculptures. Streaks of blue dye shoot through the figures.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Barbara Fletcher, A Complimentary Couple, handcast acrylic. Courtesy of the Canadian Sculpture Centre<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other artists in the show included Sunmi Jung, Saulius Jaskus, Marlene Kawalez and Dina Torrans\u2019 powerful creations. Arranged on white plinths across the room, On New Ground<\/em> casts an array of themes, like various episodes of human existence, in and around nature and family lives.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Marlene Kawalez, Hunter, Raku clay, mixed-media. Courtesy of the Canadian Sculpture Centre<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Dina Torrans, Dreamscape, steel. Courtesy of the Canadian Sculpture Centre<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sculptors Society of Canada believes in fostering dialogue between \u201cthe art and non-art\u201d community, and with its new location at the heart of the Distillery District, you can feel this ethos fully come to life. Guests flooded in, intrigued by the sculptures in the window display, discussing the sculptures among themselves, chatting with the artists, and leaving with a new understanding of contemporary sculpture \u2014 I know I certainly did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shakuntala Fernandopulle <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Exhibition information: On New Ground<\/em> \/ Group exhibition, May 20 \u2013 June 16, 2023, Canadian Sculpture Centre, 18 Gristmill Lane in the Distillery District, Toronto. Gallery hours: Tue \u2013 Sat 11 am \u2013 6 pm, , Sun 12 \u2013 5 pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Shakuntala Fernandopulle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Guests flooded in, intrigued by the sculptures in the window display, discussing the sculptures, chatting with the artists, and leaving with a new understanding of contemporary sculpture<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51399"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51418,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51399\/revisions\/51418"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/51397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}