MONIQUE BLOM, TAMARA RUSNAK and STACIA VERIGIN: "The Wayward Symbionts," January 30 to March 6, 2013, Art Gallery of Regina, SK

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"It's what's on the inside that matters"

Tamara Rusnak, "It's what's on the inside that matters," 2012, mixed media on paper, detail.

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"It's what's on the inside that matters"

Tamara Rusnak, "It's what's on the inside that matters," 2012, mixed media on paper, detail.

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"It's what's on the inside that matters"

Tamara Rusnak, "It's what's on the inside that matters," 2012, mixed media on paper, detail.

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"It's what's on the inside that matters"

Tamara Rusnak, "It's what's on the inside that matters," 2012, mixed media on paper, detail.

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"Lumpers and Splitters"

Stacia Verigin, "Lumpers and Splitters," 2003-2012, glue, sawdust, plastic and silicone.

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"Lumpers and Splitters"

Stacia Verigin, "Lumpers and Splitters," 2003-2012, glue, sawdust, plastic and silicone.

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"Lumpers and Splitters"

Stacia Verigin, "Lumpers and Splitters," 2003-2012, glue, sawdust, plastic and silicone.

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"Lumpers and Splitters"

Stacia Verigin, "Lumpers and Splitters," 2003-2012, glue, sawdust, plastic and silicone.

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"Lumpers and Splitters"

Stacia Verigin, "Lumpers and Splitters," 2003-2012, glue, sawdust, plastic and silicone.

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"Lumpers and Splitters"

Stacia Verigin, "Lumpers and Splitters," 2003-2012, glue, sawdust, plastic and silicone.

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"Matris Muto"

Monique Blom, "Matris Muto," 2009, installation.

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MONIQUE BLOM, TAMARA RUSNAK and STACIA VERIGIN: The Wayward Symbionts

January 30 to March 6, 2013

Art Gallery of Regina , SK

By Margaret Bessai

Seen the cartoon where the Earth is sitting, worried? A doctor is diagnosing the planet: “I’m afraid you have a bad case – of humans.” Ecology is often thought of as the fatalistic realization that human progress has wrecked the Earth. In contrast, The Wayward Symbionts, an installation of new work by Monique Blom, Tamara Rusnak and Stacia Verigin, is a complex meditation on the interwoven relationships between place and spirit, body and mind, human and environment. Blom uses elements from her site-specific work with living trees, objects gathered from her farmstead and a projection of her younger self to explore the dialogue between childhood experience and the adult self. Rusnak’s wall-sized drawing of an alchemical digestive system traces links between physical and mental selves, inspired by scientific study of diet and psychology. Verigin’s miniatures in sawdust, plastic and glue recreate the natural for a retro-futuristic cabinet of curiosities. In the collection, a tiny silicone whale wears a party hat as a macabre and quirky celebration of its own demise. Although they work in separate studios, the artists developed the installation in discussion with curator Marsha Kennedy, a painter whose work expresses reverence for natural systems and explores murky emotional and metaphysical areas in the scientific paradigm.