Living While Marginalized
May 27th, 2021 - may 15th, 2021
project room GALLERY
Guest Curator:
Keisha McLean (pictured)
FEATURED ARTISTS:
KATHLEEN MARTINEZ / DES SPENCE (her) / SCOTTIE MACLEOD (they/them) / ANAIS (she/they) / STEPHANIE CHAMBERS (she/they) /
SERENA EBUCHI (she/they) / KASEY MORAN (she/her) / SYLVIA RAMOS (she/her) / TIERNAN (any) / IRIS FAI (she/her) / IDRIS HUDSON / TET (he) / JENNIFER JULES (she/her) / EVELYN TRAVIS (she/her) / CYNDI MCLEAN (she/her) / CARMYN ELVIDGE (she/they)
Featuring artists ranging from up-and-coming to established, Living While Marginalized focuses on unpacking and highlighting the daily marginalization and discrimination LGBTQ2S+ and BIPOC Communities face.
Marginalization is when a group or individual is put into a position of lesser power or isolation within society because of discrimination. We see the impacts of marginalization in housing, when job applications are dismissed because of the individual's name, when an individual is denied a workplace opportunity because of their gender, sexuality, or race. We see it in the healthcare system, when individuals are misdiagnosed based on preconceived ideas of what’s wrong based on racial, gender or sexuality based biases. Marginalization happens anywhere on the spectrum from micro to macro aggressions.
The lasting impacts of marginalization can lead to poverty/wealth disparity, health challenges (both mental and physical), isolation, harassment, the list goes on. Through the ages, we have seen a direct link between art and activism. Some of our most popular and valued forms of music, dance, and fine arts have been the result of resistance and rebellion in the name of advocacy and activism. Living While Marginalized embraces this history by taking an approach that incorporates elements of proactive activism, by providing resources and guidance on how to continue advocating for marginalized communities, even after the exhibition has ended.
Through art, education, understanding, and compassion, we can begin to change the systemic nature of marginalization.
Keisha McLean, Guest Curator
A note from the Director, Paul Crawford:
Some of the hardest and most rewarding lessons I have learned over the past few years have come as a result of those exhibitions exploring contemporary and critical social issues and concepts that impact our community. It’s been an incredible learning experience to be able to give our space over to someone else. I have come to appreciate the discomfort experienced when you let go and trust in the work of another. In every case, the exhibitions which have resulted have far exceeded my original concept and vision and provide a far richer and deeper connection to the subject.
With that in mind, last summer we posted an open call inviting members from our community to submit a proposal to be a Guest Curator with the objective of developing an exhibition exploring Diversity in the Arts in our community. By the deadline we had received a number of interesting submissions including ones from Robin Hodgson, whose work is featured in the Main Gallery, and Keisha McLean, owner/operator of Penticton’s Boundless Belly Dance. I was impressed and intrigued by both of their applications and chose Robin’s work as part of the group show in the Main Gallery and Keisha as our guest curator for the Project Room.
Over the time I have lived here in Penticton I have always enjoyed my interactions with Keisha and have long admired the work she has undertaken as a community builder, activist, and mentor. I am so excited to have her take on the role of our guest curator, a project I hope will become ongoing. Since our first meeting I have been nothing but impressed by her vision and commitment to this project. Through it all I have learnt a great deal and I am excited to continue on this journey. I look forward to the exhibition and all the supportive programming and resources she has planned to accompany the exhibit.
I can’t thank Keisha enough for her trust in taking on this project and since our first meeting. I have been in constant awe of her hard work and dedication in taking this from the initial vision to its ultimate realization. Thanks also to all the artists who have shared their stories and provided us with an invaluable window into your world. I have no doubt this exhibition will provide us all with an invaluable opportunity for personal growth and understanding.
Paul Crawford, Curator
EXHIBITION TOUR
VIRTUAL ART + CULTURE TALK WITH SOICS
VIRTUAL ART + CULTURE TALK WITH SOS PRIDE
ARTIST STATEMENTS
KATHLEEN MARTINEZ
Spring, 2021
ink + watercolour, 18” x 24”
This piece is a beautiful blend of life growing throughout the continent. I love how this piece is visually pleasing with every angle.
Kathleen Martinez attended Phoenix College between 1989 through 1991 taking art classes. Although she is mostly self taught, she’s learned quite a bit. She has always had a love for art. Kathleen had put art on hold for about 20 yrs while raising a family, and has recently re-entered the scene. Kathleen’s work is abstract. She enjoys combining life with synthetic. Most times she lets the art create itself.
“My work is all free hand and I let the piece talk to me. Its liberating and satisfying to create beautiful work that flows such as this piece.”
DES SPENCE
Like Mother Like Daughter
mixed media
This photo is of my mother and I. It definitely represents the nurturing and the love that she is always showing me. She is the one knowing me often times better than I know myself. That moment of holding a me in her arms is like watching her holding my entirety. Holding everything I have been and will be. Though you outgrow their arms they're always holding you, at least that's how I look at motherhood.
With roots in Calgary Alberta, hopes and curiosity took Dess from the West of Canada to Montreal then Toronto. All smirks and smiles, this second generation lady loves hard in family, friends and art. Be it video work, design, or poetry, Dess has always had a need to express. “VOETRY is my baby... Started out as practice filming but I had to think about what was worth capturing? Video and poetry have always been some of the deepest parts of me, so that’s what I now do! I film spoken word poetry and love it. From filming, directing, casting, editing, designing to straight writing some pieces, this is my joy. This is my love. This is VOETRY.”
Black Candy
mixed media
I find words hold such power. The quieting hand motion on a black woman's lips speaks to me because the depictions of a black woman are so overtly depicted as a loud angry black woman. I wanted to show a side that is both soft but still just as strong and powerful as any worded statement. We are such wide ranging strokes of femininity. I refuse the boxing up of our identities.
Expression
mixed media
When asked who I will be in 20 years, I know that at minimum I must be full of self expression throughout each moment. Be it a simple life or an extravagant one, room for creativity is not an option, it is a necessity. As an artist it is how I will always see the world and without sight I can not imagine much of a fulfilled life.
Shades
mixed media
I really wanted to celebrate womanhood, strength and the rich melanin that comes with the black package. Skin is such a rich part of me. It is the first thing people see visually and with that it carries not only a black experience but so much more. It carries my identity intrinsically woven together. It is convenient to name it black and leave it at that but I'd prefer to just imagine my shade as an extension of just me, my history, my future, armour.
SERENA EBUCHI
Self Portrait
acrylic on canvas, 30” x 22”
The theme of this self-portrait is “the passion for creativity” and “the agony of creation.” As an artist and writer, I’ve had many moments of self-doubt and anguish over creating a piece. I’m not afraid to admit that I have given up on several pieces after days and weeks of attempting at it. But that has never stopped me from continuing to create, much less extinguish the fiery passion I have for art and literature. Whenever I am creating something, I am aware of my world view that influences it, particularly my experience, knowledge, and cultural/social values I gained through my years of living in Japan. I feel that we often forget how our background follows us wherever we go, and how it speaks to us during whatever we do and take our thought processes as granted. I drew myself wearing a Kimono in this self-portrait to acknowledge where I write and paint from as a Japanese/German-Canadian artist and writer.
Serena Ebuchi is a Japanese/German-Canadian artist and writer. She was born and raised in Nagoya, Japan and studied Creative Writing and Visual Arts at UBC Okanagan. Her work has been exhibited in student exhibitions at the Kelowna Art Gallery and the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art.
SYLVIA RAMOS
Catharsis, 2021
alcohol ink, 8” diameter
Blue, purple, pink. The colours of the bisexual pride flag, this piece was created for those who need pride. Expressing yourself publicly comes with risk in a society which is not yet completely accepting. Alcohol inks are in their essence a fluid medium, using the same colours on the same canvas would still each time create a different result. Every combination of colours will blend together to create something gorgeous, which is beautifully metaphoric.
Sylvia Ramos is an 18 year old, bisexual, Mexican-Canadian artist. She has been an artist her entire life, expressing myself through every medium imaginable.
IRIS FAI
Untitled, 2018
airbrushing and bodypainting, 3’ x 5’
Part of a painted mannequin series that is currently in the works, heavily influenced by her Thai culture. This one is black light reactive!
Iris Fai is a freelance makeup artist and body painter based out of Vancouver BC. Originating from Northern Thailand she was immersed in the colorful styles of Thai art at a very young age. She grew up loving fantasy books and films and was hugely inspired with creature design which led her to attend Vancouver Film School to learn the art of story telling. After a couple years of learning the fundamentals of film, her skill sets and interests eventually funneled into the makeup and special effects program at VFS. Now Iris specializes in airbrushing, contemporary and creative beauty, editorial fashion and fabricating and applying prosthetics for film and television. She has been working as a freelance artist for roughly 7 years, working on a variety of projects ranging from art and music festivals, magazines, music videos and weddings.
JENNIFER JULES
Memorial, 2021
photography on canvas, 24” x 26”
Along the West and East coast of Africa are memorials of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. These serve as a reminder to the people of the continent of Africa to never again allow their children, mothers, sisters, brothers, dads to be enslaved. Walking the path our forefathers and mothers walked, standing at memorials such as this statue, reminded me of how Canada was supposed to be the Promised Land where we would be free. Freed from the shackles of slavery. Freed and as equal as our White brothers and sisters are. For don’t we all come from Mother Africa? The reality of being Black in Canada is very different from what the world and many Canadians think. We are silenced, erased and shackled by the chains of racism. Freedom does not truly exist here. As long as we need to give our children The Talk, as long as we worry when our babies are stopped by the police, we will never be free. This memorial serves as a reminder that our people are dying; that there is a war against BIPOC. Say their names . . . each name is a life . . . a story . . . a loved one. See them. Remember them. Love them.
Jennifer Jules, CCH, MA CCC, has spent her working career dedicated to working within the field of Trauma and recovery. She has also dedicated her life both professionally and personally to advocating for BIPOC and LGBTQ2+ folks. She is fiercely knowledgeable in the dynamics of ancestral trauma, epigenetics and the lasting effects of slavery in contemporary Canada & America.
Photography has been a passion of Jennifer's for many years. For her, it captures a moment in time and reflects the world in an unwavering way. She has just begun branching out and bringing her artistry to her work and the community.
This is Us, 2021
photography on canvas, 40” x 40”
This is Us: Like you we are all the beauty that encompasses humankind. If you see us, how can you not love us? If you love us, how can you stand by and let them kill us?
The Talk, 2021
Interactive Video
We live in the Promised Land. We live as ‘free people’ but still we have to have ‘The Talk’ to our children. This is a video rendition of the first talk I gave my son. He was 11. I hope this will give a deeper understanding of what it means to be Black in Canada. My aim is to bring forth conversation and end the need to have The Talk. If the world sees us, hears us, knows us, how can they hate us?
TET
Tiger, 2020
wool on canvas, 16” x 20”
This piece took more than one hundred hours to finish and is part of series I called wool by numbers. It was inspired by the well-known “paint by numbers” paintings. I want to show that anybody can be original in a very framed environment. Just think outside the box.
I am a gay self-taught artist, originally from France. I am inspired by animals, bright colors and textures, so it brought me naturally to a pop culture kind of art. I like to experiment with new textures , and for now, my choice goes to wool.
I like working with wool because it gives a new dimension to the subject. Plus, you can touch and feel the art. Marginalization, in my case, comes from small details. Having my husband being called my “partner” for example, or people asking us if we are brothers !!! It might make you smile at first, but repeated hundreds of time, it kind of hurt.
EVELYN TRAVIS
Dysmorphia Tendencies, 2014
mixed media, 48” x 36”
This piece is a portion of a bigger piece I have shown. It represents body dysmorphia and bullying. I am currently in my 3rd year of Fine Arts at UBC Okanagan. I hope to one day bring Art and Counselling together to help those in need.
CYNDI MCLEAN
A Timeline, 2021
mixed media, 5’ x 10’
Made from upcycled pallets, “A time line” aims to highlight systemic marginalization in Canada through major social and legislative moments. This is just a glimpse into Canada’s history of systemic discrimination and marginalization. To learn more: keishadances.com.
Self-taught and without formal training outside public school, Cyndi Mclean loves a good art project! In recent years, Cyndi has explored life drawing & painting using a variety of materials including oils, acrylics, pastels and charcoal. As both a social worker and an ally, Cyndi recognizes the arts can be used to bring about social change and increase awareness. Additionally, as a social worker she uses art to deepen her own awareness of herself and social issues; thereby renewing her commitment to social work practice. Cyndi is excited for this opportunity to collaborate with Keisha on “A Timeline” regarding systemic marginalization in Canada. The hours spent researching and planning have been an emotional journey; identifying and labelling moments of impact for herself and those she loves in the history of Canada not taught in school.
SCOTTIE MACLEOD
Miss Gretchen Marzipan, 2016
Styrofoam, bone, metal, spray paint, acrylic paint, marker, 9” x 9” x 18”
Gretchen was created as an act of desperation, rage, and hurt turned inward. She was created in a period where the artist was coming to terms with repressed memories of sexual abuse, while experiencing unrequited love, and grappling with their identity as an outsider in society. Gretchen is a visual representation of an outlet for expressing rage without resorting to self harm or self sabotage.
Gretchen’s mutilated pose can be viewed as disturbing or playful, but it is difficult to ignore. The work manages to be intimidating without effort. Though Gretchen was created from a negative place, she has developed a sense of humour and has become a source of comfort.
Scottie’s work is centered around expressing discomfort in creative ways, often using cheeky humour that pushes boundaries. They are interested in creating objects and experiences that begin by making people feel uncomfortable and ultimately end up in laughter, playing with the tension of discomfort and ease.
Scottie is a Scottish-German-French Canadian non-binary artist currently living on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territories of the Coast Salish nations. They are in active inquiry about what it means to be a settler on stolen land.
ANAIS
Fern & Vine, 2021
glass and metal, 8” x 10”
Inspired by the many ferns and climbing vines that thrive due to the close proximity of our warm costal waters.
Growing up queer and black in rural BC, there was never any room for confusion over my want for a community that I didn’t see around me. I turned to nature and solitude to occupy my juvenile mind before eventually taking off on an 8year adventure to find a community of my own through the internet and discounted travel tickets. Since returning to BC and having brought all of the diversity and love I experienced through travelling and living abroad back with me, I have been able to convert that constant ‘needing to leave’ feeling into a creative energy that drives my work.
Since discovering Stained glass as an interest three years ago, I have been hyper focused on teaching myself the trade and perfecting the craft. Working from a home studio intermittently between busy farming seasons and the still ever present need to go for multi day drives to be somewhere that ‘feels new’, I have finally gotten to a place of confidence with my work and am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to display my art, for the very first time, here at the PAG.
I couldn’t think of a better way to get to feel part of such a diverse community from my own home, wherever that may be.
STEPHANIE CHAMBERS
Mixed Blood, 2021
beadwork, 18” x 13”
Done in contemporary Métis style beadwork and porcupine quills, “Mixed Blood” is a piece meditating on the beauty and intricacy of being a person of mixed race, and the blending of two worlds to create a third.
I’ve spent all my life creating something. Painting and drawing became ways for me to interpret my surroundings, working as a chef allowed me to feed beauty and devotion to my customers, but beadwork is completely different for me. When I bead I go inward. It is a way for me to connect to my inner world, to my ancestors, to my spirit, my Creator, and to share my core, and hopefully strength, with my Indigenous community, and with the world around me. For me beadwork is joyful, meditative, and good medicine. Bliss is vividly communicated through intricate designs. Reverence for nature is revealed through shells, bone, and porcupine quills, lovingly washed by hand and stitched into hide and wool with gentleness, and gratitude. Even sorrow is transformed into passionate expressions of colour and symbolism, which heal the spirit. Through beadwork I hope my inner world can bring joy and healing to those who see it.
KASEY MORAN
Isolating with Family, 2021
acrylic on canvas, 16” x 20”
This is a painting of my childhood home at Twin Lakes. As a gay, closeted teenager in the Okanagan in the late nineties, the isolation of rural living nearly killed me, and it did kill some of my friends. I've recently returned to Twin Lakes from the Vancouver area with my wife, where we live in “covid isolation” with my parents, my sister, her husband, and their two children. The overwhelming isolation that I felt as the only gay youth at Twin Lakes has been erased now by the company of my wife, by the friendships I’ve developed with other LGBTQ people in the region, and by technology. I still feel sad about the lack of local, permanent, LGBTQ meeting spaces here, and I wonder if young people are feeling as alone as I did twenty-five years ago. I suspect that, for many people living in rural Canada, the trade-off between choosing to live in a beautiful, natural setting close to family versus feeling connected to a safe and vibrant LGBTQ community is still a significant concern.
Kasey Moran is a painter and biologist. As a teenager, she cut class at Pen High to attend life drawing sessions at the Cannery where she was mentored by Liz Marshall, Thomas Braithwaite, and many other well-known Penticton artists. Like many young people at the time, she left the Okanagan for Vancouver in the early 90’s in search of LGBTQ community. She met her wife Barbara at the only (and now extinct) lesbian bar in the city in 2008. They’ve been married since 2009. Kasey is close to finishing a PhD in riparian ecology, but still finds time to paint.
TIERNAN
Plant Some Seeds, 2021
mixed media, 8” x 10”
As a queer and genderqueer person with an abnormal physique, who struggled with depression for most of their life, I have found - through trial and error - that the best way to stave off meltdowns is to “plant seeds” beyond my comfort zone; like making new contacts (despite not feeling up to it) making brave new art or taking on some other fresh new challenge.
As a child growing up in Edmonton, Alberta, in the 1970s, Tiernan knew that they were attracted to some boys as well as some girls, but they also didn't feel like they were really either. Having been taught that things were black and white, at the age of thirteen they tried to confess that they were gay to the school counselor, only to be rebuked with, "That's not accepted in society!". Having now overcome the crippling depression that led to thirteen years of suicidal tendencies, they identify as queer and genderqueer, and work as a broad-spectrum artist in Tokyo.
The Present, 2021
mixed media, 8” x 10”
Being a hereditary psychic medium who saw visions from their childhood in the 1970’s, I have often felt guarded and guided by presences beyond our 3D world. And, innumerable events in the 21st century have made me feel that this era is what I was being trained for.
Your Absence, 2021
mixed media, 8” x 10”
My current partner is my Twin Flame, and it took me thirty-four years to find them; in this incarnation. Thus, as a hypersensitive psychic medium, I feel their absence in bed quite intensely; when they are away.
IDRIS HUDSON
Black Lines Matter, 2021
mixed media, 48” x 36”
Set against the backdrop of the Symbol of Unconditional Love are the tributes to the most uplifting Black Voices in Modern History, for myself. Each of these innovators have begun a conversation that has flourished through the decades. Timeless Uniquitous Their Black Lines of communication matter.
Deko-Ze ~ Janaya Khan ~ Frankie Knuckles ~ Marsha P Johnson
Idris Hudson a contemporary healer, using his TSOUL (The Symbol Of Unconditional Love) fragrances & art to educate emotional trauma recovery. He is multi-sensory and abstract, specializing in visual and olfactory arts.
His innovative advocacy in marginalized communities has won accolades from:
City of Vancouver - Educator Award for empowering survival sex workers with life skills workshops.
Vancouver Pride - 50th Anniversary Grand Marshall.
TEDx Speaker / Mentor - "Consciousness Is Irreversible", humanizing mental illness.
Untoxicated: Clean, Sober & Proud Festival Co-Founder
TSOUL - Founder
I See Red, People, 2021
mixed media, 48” x 36”
The Canadian Flag
When we look beneath the surfaces we avoid, we begin to heal
We do it for our Family
We do it for our HRH
We do it for the strength of our Country
Look Beneath
Feel Anger
Anger is only a byproduct of hurt
Heal the hurt
Heal the Anger
Heal
This is our freedom
Oh Canada
Our Home is Native Land
Rose Above, 2021
mixed media, 12” x 12”
Rose Above is a gesture of healing, specifically the protective healing powers of rose. Rose Above is a dedication to the thousands of beautiful children who never returned from the Residential School experiment. May the Rest in Power. Rose Above will now watch carefully over the families who have risen above the horrific legacy of mass genocide. They shall continue to Rise in Power.
The Young & The Nestless – (Sage & Disko Remix), 2021
mixed media, 18” x 24”
Abstract tribute to the positive impact of festival culture on millennials who are preparing for a future without home ownership.
CARMYN ELVIDGE
this was supposed to be more gay, 2020
acrylic on canvas, 16” x 16”
Coming into my identity as a non-binary queer person has been fraught with challenges surrounding how I want to present myself to the world. What labels do I want to put on myself? Do I even want these labels or am I accepting these labels to make it easier for people to understand my place in the world?
I had a former friend tell me that because I was femme-presenting, and had a cis-male partner, that I couldn’t be non-binary. That because my sex at birth was female, and my partner was a male, that I couldn’t be anything but a ‘straight woman’. This is just one of many examples where it was left up to me to put myself in a box for someone else.
This painting illustrates the parts of me that I lovingly learned to forge together and embrace. There has always been a theme throughout the journey of forming my identity. Society wants me to choose: boy or girl, straight or gay. This painting marries those constructs and represents the elements that live within me as a gender, and sexuality non-conformist.
Carmyn specialized in fine art throughout high school including visual arts, dance, music and theatre. Since then they have been practicing visual arts including painting, and drawing.
