The Red Deer Arts Council is excited to announce that the first ever Emerging Artist Award goes to Ms. Eva Mary Alysse Bowd of Red Deer. Ms. Bowd is a visual artist whose media are ceramic, performance, installation, drawing and written narrative.
The Red Deer Emerging Artist Award, a new award announced in March of this year, consists of $1,000.00, a banner for the artist’s personal promotion and a certificate. The award supports and encourages promising Red Deer artists, early in their careers.
Ms. Bowd is currently in Nova Scotia attending the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design to obtain her Master's of Fine Art. She will be returning to Red Deer October 3 to do a performance piece, The Wishing Girl, at the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery as part of the reception for Once + Future Contemporary Canadian Ceramics. That weekend she will also be installing an exhibition Between You and Me in the Calgary's Untitled Art Society’s +15 space. In January 2015, her exhibition Dear Little Friends will appear in the Kiwanis Gallery (operated by the Red Deer Arts Council) at the Red Deer Public Library.
In her application Alysse writes of herself,
"My practice combines delicate ceramics, installation and social performance with drawing and written narrative in what I am beginning to understand as an attempt to fully realize an escapist world. A world in which I am the heroine.
"My words tell stories, my drawings illustrate the land and people, my installations create a context while my ceramics are the actual, physical proof of that world existing. My ceramics personifies my imagined world, acting as souvenirs to remind me and all other participants of the laughter and play they engaged in. Where the words and drawings will always be recollections, the ceramics can act as portals back into that world I have created. I engage others in my work so that they might participate in the story. . .
"As an artist it feels crucial to stay active - active in my development, active in my community - locally, nationally and internationally. I flee from stagnation by continuously applying and participating in exhibitions, markets, residencies, public artist talks and community teaching opportunities. It is not progressing to simply maintain, I seek more challenging opportunity, higher expectations and new exposure. . .
"I love being an artist because it is ridiculous."
One of her appraisers had this to say about Alysse's work:
"Aly's work has been recognized by her peers in the artistic community for the past few years. For a young artist, she is extremely committed to her personal studio practice. One of the truly exciting things about Aly's work is her ability to use traditional materials and forms (ceramic vessels) in a very personal and contemporary way. In Aly's work, these vessels become vehicles for the transportation of imagination and memory. Aly has also been able to incorporate an element of community and social practice into her studio work, which again moves it out of the world of traditional craft history and into a very contemporary conversation. She is a true professional and her work is of very high quality in terms of both concept and execution. . . Her passion for the arts, coupled with an incredible amount of focus and drive is going to make her a prominent artist on the local, regional and national scene. . ."
Ms. Bowd is currently in Nova Scotia working on her Masters Degree in Fine Art.
Report courtesy of Red Deer Arts Council.
