Conflux

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Alexandra Ross, "My Roots: Arrival," 2021

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Conflux

Under the mentorship of Brenna George as part of the 2020-21 Manitoba Art Network’s Rural Artist Mentorship Program, the artists Kelly Klick, Kelly Murray, Alexandra Ross and Cyndi Wiebe built bodies of work over the course of a year that was defined by a global pandemic. What would usually have been an intensive in-person gathering followed by weeks of independent creation was replaced with a regular, virtual coming-together and creation in the same isolation that tainted the year for everyone. As rural artists, remote existence is familiar to the four of them, but the regular meeting, they reflect, gave them each more power to put behind the project. Like the power, volume and velocity that might occur at the conflux of four rivers, these artists credit their coming-together with an amplification of their practices--a true testament to the value of mentorship.

Kelly Klick (Pinawa, Manitoba) draws the inspiration for her textile and assemblage work from her decades of experience working as a midwife and childbirth educator. Using the tools of domestic creativity, she reflects on the miracle of the placenta, perhaps the primeval domestic tool.

Kelly Murray (Stead, Manitoba) applied for the mentorship with the modest goal of increasing her prowess at watercolour painting. After a yearlong collaboration with her artistic peers, viewers will recognize skill in scenes she paints, but also a deeply personal love of peace, beauty, and nature.

Alexandra Ross (Mitchell, Manitoba) built a series of self-portraits and autobiographical sculptures that put the power back in the artist’s hands--the power to decide one’s own narrative, to comply, or to break the rules. Alex will be enacting a performance work at the Gallery in the evening of Friday, September 24.

Cyndi Wiebe (Ile des Chênes, Manitoba) took advantage of her year of directed art-making to complete a fully illustrated children’s book, in which a little girl named Molly and her friend Mr. Cow explore outer space while they should be in bed. Cyndi will read Molly & Space for Adventure live at the Brandon Public Library in the morning of Saturday, October 15, and the book will be for sale at the AGSM Gift Shop.

Conflux is produced by the Manitoba Arts Network and Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art. The Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba’s ongoing exhibition programming is made possible with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council, and the City of Brandon.