Anne Steves, “Danielle: From Fredericton to Cumberland,” 2020
paper collage and inkjet print on Stonehenge paper, 22” x 13” (source photograph courtesy of Danielle Hogan)
Anne Steves is a Welsh/Canadian interdisciplinary artist based in Cumberland on Vancouver Island. Her site-based practice has been realized largely through artist residencies. Her most recent show, A-Luring Object(s), composed of playful sculptures based on fishing lures, closed early due to the pandemic.
MARCH
The move to self-isolation came about halfway through my exhibition, A-Luring Object(s), at the Fort Gallery in Fort Langley, B.C. While I was lucky enough to have an opening with people, the work is now in limbo in a closed gallery, just visible through darkened windows. It’s a project that relied heavily on artist residencies and community participation as I tried to lure myself and others into new relationships with the environment and each other. It would be impossible now. And when we return to normalcy? I will need to look at the work in different ways.
APRIL
So many artists and writers have graciously shared images of their workspaces for a new project. My collecting began over a year ago, when I was thinking about distancing as a life choice. Art communities have been drifting apart for some time as many artists have been forced (or drawn) out of urban centres to find affordable shelter and space to work. But COVID-19 has left even those living and working in close proximity blind to each other’s physical, tactile presence. Work that began as observing the distance inherent in rural art practices has become hyper-real in a world where we are all distanced. And I am sad to be so glad for the space between us.
MAY
I am at home, collaging into digitally shared spaces, creating imagined collaborations, distanced communities, impossible colonizations. I share each step through the portal of social media. It has become a lifeline, but one that is inherently misleading, distorted and sensorially limited. I am worried the financial assistance being put into place for artists during the pandemic is too focused on the conversion of our work to these digital formats. The screen reveals little more of what I do than those darkened windows at the gallery, but it is what we have for now. Our imaginations have to fill in the blanks. ■
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