The featured exhibit runs September 1 – 30, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.⁠

 

Artist Reception: September 7 at 5:30PM.⁠

 

Artist: Brandi Strauss

 

Artist Statement:

 

For the past decade I’ve been composing collages by hand, without digital manipulation. My body of work began as a paper medium zine experimenting with Xerox duplication and colour composition. Lately, I have been interested in creating my own images for my work. Capturing images on film allows me to explore new depths, a new world created from the lens of a camera. Collaging allows me to manipulate images the way our mind manipulates our ideas of perception. The subjects presented are both familiar and ominous. The two mediums explore the paradox between the mundane and complex nature of the subconscious imagination. The images chosen are combined impressions of conflicting senses of disconnection. Our memory is manipulated and sometimes constructed by our imagination. Photography allows me to appreciate the stillness of the images I am using in my work. Meanwhile collaging allows me to deconstruct and reconstruct images the way I view the world. When either tearing up images from magazines and books or capturing them thru a lens, I am examining the emotion they place, and the memories they refine.

 

Brandi Strauss is a multidisciplinary self taught artist and musician exploring various forms of artistic expression. Over the past decade Brandi has performed and released work under the moniker Static Control. Exploring multiple mediums of art, naturally drawn and captivated by the power of imagery. The art of photography and the carefully crafted art of collage are a meditative process; appreciating beauty, and reflecting on fleeting moments that we create. Examining the ominous elements of humanity, and how we maintain to co-exist with the natural world – despite its chaos.