Lucie Chan Hannah Claus Elementary Particles
© L. Chan, 2009 (left) / © H. Claus, 2011 (right)
Opening on Saturday, November 10 at 5 pm
Lucie Chan Public Lecture on Wednesday, November 7 at 12:30 pm
VA 323, Concordia University
(Visual Arts Building, 1395 Rene Levesque Blvd. W. Montreal)
Elementary particles are thought to be the fundamental building blocks of the material universe. Smaller even than atoms, they can neither be broken down into nor created from smaller particles. In their work, Lucie Chan and Hannah Claus each employ a process involving the disassembly of broad narratives into their constituent fragments, examining and re-creating them as composite structures. Where Claus is interested in myth and stories that relate the human experience to its position in the cosmos, Chan focuses on the way personal stories, deconstructed, collected and recomposed, create interrelated statements.
To do so, Chan and Claus choose a process-based approach informed by matter and the medium they privilege, rooted in both handcrafts and a history of sculpture and drawing. Claus methodically assembles by hand hundreds of paper ovals filled with graphite and suspends them into cloud structures. Chan draws a multitude of small portraits on paper which are then distributed along the walls of the gallery, while presenting the stories of her subjects in stop motion animated segments. Each artist generates an intricate system, constructed of basic components that influence each other, with no particular element having lesser or greater prominence. Chan and Claus both manage to elegantly create a holistic experience, while also providing multiple points of entry for the viewer: the works are at once simple and complex.
Further readings:
© L. Chan, 2009 (left) / © H. Claus, 2011 (right)
Lucie Chan lives in Vancouver (BC) where she teaches at Emily Carr University of Art and Design, but spent ten years in Halifax, Nova Scotia where she made drawing installations and animations. It was there she began doing participant-based / community works and took part in group exhibitions at the Dalhousie Art Gallery, the Khyber Center for the Arts, and Eyelevel Gallery, and had solo exhibitions at venues such as Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and the Mount Saint Vincent Art Gallery.
Hannah Claus is a visual artist of English and Kanien’kehà:ka / Mohawk ancestries. In her installation practice, Claus creates transformative spaces that highlight the inter-relational nature of Indigenous worldview. She has exhibited throughout Canada, the United States, as well as in Germany, Switzerland, Mexico and Chile. Her work is included in various public collections, such as the Canada Council Art Bank, the City of Montreal and Global Affairs Canada. She recently curated the exhibition Tehatikonsontatie for the Maison de la culture Frontenac.
Active for over a dozen years, Peter Flemming is a folk machinery artist, doing electronics handcraft ‘by ear,’ tinkering intensively and intuitively in the studio. He has exhibited extensively internationally and been the recipient of numerous grants, awards and residencies. An occasional writer and curator, he has produced exhibition texts for other artists. He is an active board member or member of several local arts organizations.
Claudine Hubert is a writer and independent curator of digital and visual art, with a interest in the artistic potential of AI, in performance and institutional structures. She has been active in the Canadian cultural milieu for over fifteen years, beginning with the Symposium International d’art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul in the early 2000s, and co-founding Third Space Gallery in Saint John, NB where she managed publications and community outreach.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.
Lucie Chan & Hannah Claus, Les particules élémentaires. Photo : Paul Litherland, 2012.