Oxygen Art Centre is pleased to announce Ephemeral Existence, an exhibition by Nelson-based contemporary artist Hildur Jónasson. The exhibition will be the first public showing of work done by Jónasson, while participating at the Arctic Circle Residency in Svalbard, Norway last year. Included in the show will be a selection of works on paper, as well as a sculptural installation that accompanies a video of a performance made by Jónasson on the Svalbard Glacier.

Join us to celebrate the opening of Ephemeral Existence on Friday, November 30th from 7-9pm. The exhibition will run from December 1st thru to December 22nd, 2018. Oxygen Art Centre’s exhibition hours are 1-5pm Wednesday to Saturday. Hildur Jónasson will give a talk about her work on Saturday, December 1st at 4pm. Admission is by donation. The exhibition will be followed by a residency at the Oxygen Art Centre from January 7th to 31st, 2019.

Born and raised in Iceland, Jónasson’s experience with volcanoes, geysers and glaciers informs her practice, as does the folklore and mythology which animates the Icelandic landscape.  The far northern landscape, with it’s subtle light shifts, eerie sense of presence, and vast space, holds a special fascination for Jónasson. In particular, the artist notes, that ice fields and glaciated landscapes form part of the “cultural fabric of Iceland”. Their rapid disappearance, amplifying the effects of the global environmental crisis, effects Jónasson personally. A noticeable absence of ice now clouds her childhood memories of glacial landscapes, once within view of her family home, instead, for Jónasson, a sense of loss pervades.

In 2017, returning to the circumpolar landscape, Jónasson sought to record and respond to this loss through her art practice.  A practice as diverse yet interwoven as the land itself, consisting of lithography, intaglio, cyanotype, painting, pen and ink, graphite, wax and casting. Working largely in an achromatic palette, the artist pulls, etches, casts and rubs ghost-like imagery into fibrous materials.

Included in the exhibition, Farewell Embrace, a performance art video shows Jónasson encased in a shroud-like blanket standing in the landscape. Rolling her body across a gritty summer glacier, reminiscent of the way in which children roll down a grassy slope in a burlap sack, but there is no child-like laughter of a bright summer’s day, instead the scene is sober, the light that of twilight echoing a sense of grief. Using the shape and weight of her body as a tool to imprint the texture of the Svalbard glacier, this work evokes impermanence and futile effort to capture the retreating ice. Continuing her introspection of the arctic environment, this January, as an Artist in Residence at the Oxygen Art Centre, Jónasson will again turn her attention to the silent casualties of climate change – the disappearing glaciers.

Jónasson’s first engagement with the Oxygen Art Centre was in 2002 when as a graphic designer, she created the Centre’s logo. It was around this time that she began to translate her interests into the visual arts, eventually studying printmaking at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and then years later, participating in residencies at the Banff Centre, Toni Onley Artist’s Project (Mountain Island Arts) Residency and The Arctic Circle Residency Program. Most recently, she completed a self-directed study in textile arts at Kootenay School of Arts at Selkirk College. She has had solo and groups shows since 2010 with solo shows in Halifax, NS (2015); Reykajavik, Iceland (2013); and Whitehorse, Yukon (2017, 2014). This coming year, Fata Morgana, another body of new work will be exhibited at the Kootenay Gallery of Art in Castlegar.

Idea-land: Making Friends with the Muse with Kelly Shpeley

5 classes: Feb. 4, 11, 18 & April 1, 8 Mondays 6pm – 9pm

Course description:

A course in idea-making. What to do when you have creative stagnation, and need to break up old patterns of thinking to come up with fresh ideas. 

Course Fee: $170    Material Fee: $30

TOTAL FEE: $200

Idea-land: Making Friends with the Muse with Kelly Shpeley

5 classes: Feb. 4, 11, 18 & April 1, 8 Mondays 6pm – 9pm

Course description:

A course in idea-making. What to do when you have creative stagnation, and need to break up old patterns of thinking to come up with fresh ideas. 

Course Fee: $170    Material Fee: $30

TOTAL FEE: $200

Pencil to Paper with Deborah Thompson 

6 classes: Feb. 5 – March 12 Tuesdays 5.30pm – 8.30pm

Course Description:

Loved for its immediacy and depth of expression, drawing is the foundation of visual thinking and artistic development. This 6-week course focuses on drawing as a traditional and contemporary practice. Drawing exercises that build on the fundamentals of drawing such as form, value, shape and space will be part of each class. We will explore drawing from a variety of sources, including some life model time. The use of colour in drawing will be introduced. Participants will work from still life, photographs, and their imaginations to create more complex self-directed drawings. Ongoing feedback and group discussions will be part of each class. Students with any level of drawing experience are welcome to join the class.

Course Fee: $220     Material Fee: $30 + material list

TOTAL FEE: $250

Clown Play, Practice and Performance with Marya Folinsbee  

6 Classes: Feb. 6 – Mar. 13 Wednesdays 6pm – 8.30pm

Course Description:

The clown is a universal archetypal character, channeling trickster taboos and the provocative divine! In this class we will tap into our clown personas in order to develop “turns”, or short clown performances. Activities include improvisational theatre and movement, costume and make-up creation, story-telling/story-building, and wild self-exploration. No previous experience necessary, but those with experience very welcome too! This work supports performers, artists, parents, and anyone plagued by seriousness.

Course Fee: $185     Material Fee:  $15

TOTAL FEE: $200 

Singing Beyond the Blues with Bessie Wapp

6 Classes: Feb. 7 – Mar. 14 Thursdays 7 pm – 9 pm

Course Description: 

The follow-up to Bessie’s popular Singing The Blues, this course is for returning students wanting to build their skills and, of course, sing with a live band of top Nelson musicians. Includes 6 group classes plus one private lesson.

Course Fee: $225    Material Fee: $5

TOTAL FEE: $230 

Low-Tech Printmaking Part II with Natasha Smith 

4 Classes: Feb. 8 – March 1 Fridays 1 pm – 4 pm

Course Description:

This course is designed for students that have basic printmaking experience. Students will be encouraged to create larger, more complex printmaking plates and explore a variety of printing techniques, including jigsaw and multi-plate printing.

Course Fee: $155    Material Fee: $25 + material list

TOTAL FEE: $180 

Beginners Brush 2 with Deborah Thompson

2-day workshop: Feb 9 & 10 Saturday & Sunday 12 pm – 5 pm

Course Description:
This two-day weekend workshop is designed as a continuation of Beginner’s Brush 1. The course will focus on aspects of colour theory which will then be applied to various painting exercises. On the first day, we will look at complimentary colour mixing and how colour effects the creation of space. On the second day, we will explore the creation of texture with colour and value contrasts. Exercises, group critiques and discussions will be an ongoing part of the weekend. A slide show to study how artists throughout history have used colour will be part of each day. Anyone who has an interest in learning to paint or extending their knowledge of painting is welcome.

Course Fee: $ 130   Material Fee: $20.00 + material list

TOTAL FEE: $150 

Beginners Brush 2 with Deborah Thompson

2-day workshop: Feb 9 & 10 Saturday & Sunday 12 pm – 5 pm

Course Description:
This two-day weekend workshop is designed as a continuation of Beginner’s Brush 1. The course will focus on aspects of colour theory which will then be applied to various painting exercises. On the first day, we will look at complimentary colour mixing and how colour effects the creation of space. On the second day, we will explore the creation of texture with colour and value contrasts. Exercises, group critiques and discussions will be an ongoing part of the weekend. A slide show to study how artists throughout history have used colour will be part of each day. Anyone who has an interest in learning to paint or extending their knowledge of painting is welcome.

Course Fee: $ 130   Material Fee: $20.00 + material list

TOTAL FEE: $150 

Beginner Instrumental Ukulele with Catherine McGrath

5 Classes: Feb. 10 – March 17 (no class on Feb 17) Sundays 6.30 pm – 8.30 pm

Course Description:
The course is an introduction to playing melodies (as opposed to just chords) on the ukulele. We will look at a couple of easy major scales and some very simple melodies with backing chords.  Students should already be proficient playing a fair number of chords (at least 8) in steady rhythm. 

Course Fee: $130     Material Fee:  $10

TOTAL FEE: $140