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Update August 2022 by Dame REB:
Here we are. After years of evolving visions and efforts at bringing my collaborative art project together, there have been developments in a new and prosperous direction. Always in line with the collaborations intended to share art across worldly and outre perspectives, I’ve partnered with talented, ambitious and successful artists Althea Mamaril and Lena Kroeker to launch our art space and gallery: VÄS.
With the shared talents of our founders, we will host ceramic, paint and woodworking workshops. We will organize vernissage events for ourselves and with honored guest artists. There will be a café, there will be movie nights, there will be oyster parties. There will be seasonal themes with murals showcased outside. There will be a stage for shows: musicians, dancers, comedians, art class models, storytellers. It will be a space welcoming viewers and participants of all ages. It will be an open and supporting community for free spirits and wayward souls to share creativity and inspiration.
Stay tuned: Opening soon! Visit our website to sign up to our mailing list!
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Update April 2021: A Project Proposal by DAME REB
I am producing an exhibit event that will bring together artists from various communities and cultures. The event itself is intended to be held in Montreal in the summer of 2021 as an exhibition of art and performance. (The date may be pushed back due to gathering circumstances and project development.) What artists will be collaborating on are the themes assigned to my bird sculptures, all of which have names, characters and attitudes that can be elaborated on and brought to life with the talents of all artists involved.
Each individual sculpture has an intended theme as well as a message. These sculptures have become expressions of myself and I am inviting other artists to expand their stories and relevance to be acknowledged and appreciated by different art communities. I invite photographers to develop an image that expresses the intended attitude and theme of a piece. Collaborating with them, I share my intentions, thoughts and my vision and I welcome their suggestions and elaborations that trickle from our initial brainstorming. The result is a visual collaboration that surpasses my individual vision every time: the beauty of what 2 minds can create. What can become of more minds involved in the creative process and beyond visual stimulation? Let’s see! I then invite musicians to create an audio-elaboration on the theme and message of a piece. I usually will instruct a certain ‘feel’ for the music and if there are lyrics, I ask that they are structured within the intended message. Other than that, artists are invited to develop on what speaks to them and to create a unique rendition that connects yet another perspective to the initial theme. I don’t believe that art should be static, and already with these involvements, we attain a fluidity that develops across the senses. But to extend yet
beyond that, I invite dancers or performance artists to choreograph and express what they feel in listening to the message and the assigned musical composition, adding another visual artistic cooperation. Originally these dances were visualized as a ‘shadow dance’ performed with exaggerated movement behind a sheet and in tandem with lighting artists that can be invited to compose a lighting choreography with the composition. However, I am open to anything that a dancer may want to do to express from their artistic perspectives.
The outcome of these collaborations is intended to be displayed at the event in a gallery-type venue with a stage for performance. The canvased themed pictures will be mounted on the wall at intervals, with each respective sculpture sitting on a podium in front of it. ‘Behind the scenes’ photos and accessories will be posted on the walls in between the artworks telling the story of the making of this project: photos depicting, for example, the location for a shoot and the photographer prepping her gear, or a band in the recording studio (videos can also be shared!), accessories such as the seashell bra that was worn at a mermaid shoot, etc.
The goal for this first exhibit is to display 6 bird sculptures with their 6 elaborated themes. At timed intervals, a spotlight will be set on the podium and wall-mounted canvas picture while the music artist performs their designated composition. The dancer or performer can coordinate with the music artist whether to share the stage or perform independently with a recording. The event itself will be recorded and produced into an exciting montage video to be shared by each artist involved to their communities and cultures and expand into as many hearts as we can. The intention is to show how the collaborating artists were brought together and how their energies were fueled towards a shared goal in relating a thought, a theme, a message, which travels and transforms across each individual perspective and, when combined, creates a unique vision and a new perspective to be shared by all.
Update July 2020:
Having had 6 weeks off during the onset of the Covid pandemic in Montreal, I was able to buckle down and work on a new piece. My enthusiasm for it grew each day as I developed themes and thoughts and expressions to relate. The most evident of these is 'Contrast', or better yet, 'Balance'. Allegro and Mosso, a Yin-Yang representation of bat falcons: at first I wanted Mosso to be horrid and gnarly, grey and drab, to invoke disgust and alarm; and Allegro to invoke vibrant colours reminiscent of peace and beauty. Did I want Mosso to be the tangible representation of the Covid 19 virus? And then I thought about how nature was regaining its place in the shut down of industry. Beauty in nature was thriving because of the repercussions of Covid on mankind. And I thought for Allegro to be the representation of Covid, and Mosso the representation of humanity, as a villain, subjecting Mother Nature to exploitation and deterioration.
Then I stepped back, I was lucky enough (so far) not to have lost someone I love to the virus and I wouldn't assign its name to what I made with positive vibrations. In the universe, the Covid pandemic is a neutral occurrence, pushed on and caused by checks and balances to continuously evolve. And humanity, by those terms, is a neutral agent, creating both positive and negative repercussions in our immediate environment. That's thinking big and far... So I brought it small and close, so close, to the connections we all have, what makes humanity that which it is, both scientific and inexplicable. I am human, and I relate to humanity through emotion.
During Covid, emotions and shared feelings were the greatest driving force connecting everyone in unique situations of isolation. Some happy, hopeful, creative: we can all relate. Some sad, hopeless, stagnant: we can all relate. We all share a spectrum of emotion, felt through the depths of our core. In each of our beings, emotions, just like the universe, are balanced between positive and negative, and sometimes to the very extremes of these. But to an outsider, they can be seen as neutral, however strongly one feels, because things happen and we have to deal with them. If we think positively and make that an attitude, we can naturally counteract some negative emotions welling up inside. Easier said than done. And that's why I dedicated this piece to the acknowledgment of Mental Health, which affects us all, no matter how internally balanced we may be, we all know someone, love someone, who feels too strongly on one side of the spectrum. And without doubt, we've all experienced the entire spectrum, and so that's how we relate. That's what brings us together as humanity. And if we can empathize with each other, we can understand one another. Communication is key for our future, for relationships big and small, far and near. "Keep Talking." - Pink Floyd
Roxie
Update April 2020:
'Loot' was completed in February and proves to be a contender for my best piece yet! At the Quebec Wildfowl Carving Competition, he took a first place in the Expert Songbird category, and went on to take a 3rd place rosette for the Expert category. I was present as a volunteer during the judging and if not for intricate subtleties noticed in him VS competing pieces (by 1 judge of the 4),he may have indeed taken the show! After the competition, his treasure chest was bedazzled with the mind-blowing brass art of Lost Apostle jewelry maker, Nadya Kaufman, and we are both thrilled to have endeavoured in this collaboration. He is also a contender for piece closest to my heart as he has a message to share as well as a story. Up until 'Loot', my pieces have been lyrical representations of nature. From now on, they will also have something to say, expressing the values from the depths of my being.
Covid-19 has unfortunately wrought much death, economic distress and isolation upon the world. As a neutral occurrence in our universe, the balance is maintained by what we can humanly discern, so on the flip side of these negative factors, people have been forced to embrace time: time with ourselves, explorations into fitness, healthy eating, new disciplines and curiosities; time with our families and friends, we now have time to reach out to one another on an intangible level not before achieved, we are extending support, understanding and kindness. There is a solidarity in that we're all on the same boat and no one will come out on top. We're working together and supporting those on the front lines. Meanwhile, with industry at a standstill, Mother Nature is retaking her place in the world with grace, integration, growth and beauty. Along those thoughts and themes, I've been lucky enough to work on a new piece the past few weeks and it'll be ready to expose REAL soon! #anticipate
Update November 2019:
Book:
Putting my thoughts and many ideas in concise order proves to be difficult, especially since I have so many facets I would like to touch on. I've currently put the 'writing-of-the-book' aside while I do further research into the key points I would like to present. Having more widespread knowledge and gaining experience will allow me to delve deeper into resources when the time comes to frame an outline and begin the writing
process.
Rebel Raven:
Almost onto the full-burning stage, I'm finishing up detailed areas under the tail and attacking the mounting process. He'll soon have legs and be installed on his base. "What kind of base? ", you ask ? Well, he'll be
mounted on a chest of glorified treasure (@LostApostle jewelry) of shining bling. His name being Loot (both as a noun and a verb) , the symbolism behind the piece is meant to invoke questions of wealth disparagment in our world as we know it.
Tasko was successfully completed and immediately sold to a parrot enthusiast; he now has 2 (real-life) parrot roommates; if Taska knew, she'd likely be jealous!
Update August 2019:
My carving of my lovebird Taska is complete. I named the carving Tasko.
January 2019:
Hi! Welcome to my webpage. I hope you enjoy my featured creations and if you're curious to know, here are some current projects I am working on:
- My book! It has a working title, a preface poem, and a general outline. I have a lot of ideas and as I confront them all to be able to present them to you with order and intrigue, I will share my progress here.
- A Really Big Raven. The cut out is still rough and I'm presently focusing on a separate head study to understand the anatomy and get everything right before I can conceive the "Corvus-Trickster-to-be".
- Taska. Some of you may know my own pet lovebird Taska. She's got a lot of spunk; big attitude contrasted with funny, endearing quirks. Check her out: @taska_the_lovebird I'll be working on carving a Taska, perhaps one of a series of many because she has many poses and expressions that I admire and adore.
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