ArtScopeTO 02: Interviews with Kris Bovenizer + Dawn Hemmy

December 1, 2016 | By Mark R. Hasan

ArtScopeTO_20_thumbnail

Originally slated for a mid-November publication, a set of interviews with Toronto-based printmaking artists Kris Bovenizer and Dawn Hemmy were unfortunately delayed, due in part to some technical issues with the audio.

I’ve minimized the audio issues and ordered the short Q&As into a compact narrative to allow the artists to discuss their work using relief and intaglio printmaking methods that date back several hundred years.

Both methods involve carving art into a fixed surface, from which prints are ultimately struck to produce (primarily) B&W prints, of which several small and large-scale works were exhibited at Toronto’s Urban Gallery between Nov. 3- 26, 2016.

Intaglio in particular is labour-intensive, finicky, and requires the use of metal or copper sheets onto which art is carved, but the results are incredibly striking portraits that benefit from the contrast between black lines on white or coloured / textured custom paper.

Hemmy’s work involves different shades of ink and paper, and the exhibition contained some beautifully detailed architectural images, whereas Bovenizer’s centerpiece was a series called “Women and Octopi” that featured witty, large poster-size portraits of glamorous women wearing or walking octopi like fashion accoutrements.

Branded Driftwood & Dharma, the Bovenizer-Hemmy exhibition has been superseded by Meghan Thomas’ blazingly colourful Luminosity (which runs at the Urban Gallery from December 1, 2016 thru January 14, 2017, which has its launch tonight between 5-8pm.

I’ve posted a few stills from the Driftwood & Dharma exhibit, followed by Vimeo and YouTube links to the ArtScopeTO video.

Once again the interview extracts are supported by visuals created by sending audio through an oscilloscope, and layering the animated sonic images within Premiere.

The voice of Kris Bovenizer…

… And the voice of Dawn Hemmy.

Because the exhibit featured primarily B&W art, I punched out the colour of the footage to keep the final pulsing images stark. Some making-of details + frame grabs are archived at Big Head Amusements [to follow].

Vimeo: