Artists Reveal their Dirty Laundry in “From the Bottom of the Hamper”

   Concordia Fine Arts student Marilyne Blais is bringing out her innermost demons with her latest art project, which will be featured from September 1st until the 10th, along with the work of Alanna Lynch, at the VAV Gallery. Her work, which is part of “From the Bottom of the Hamper” features drawings which draw inspiration from her Catholic-Quebecois heritage, in addition to “long, boring family holidays, afternoon tea parties, knitting and my mom’s obsession with Victorian furniture,” says Marilyne.

   “The first draft of my work comes from an elemental stream of consciousness,” she says. “The grotesque is an important component of my work, as portraying psychosis for me is something that is expressed with humor in order to avoid self-degradation.”

   Alanna Lynch says her degree in Psychology, which she earned before switching into the fibres program at Concordia, is an instrumental part of her work. “I like to work with subjects that push boundaries and sometimes make both myself and the viewer a little uncomfortable,” Lynch says.

   Lynch says she gets nervous talking about her work, but confronting those issues is pretty much the point: “Using my own body as reference, [via close-up photography] I am forcing myself to confront any private feelings of shame publicly.”

   Her Untitled Performance, which was featured in last year’s Art Matters festival, saw Lynch wearing the same brown garment day after day, forcing her to find new stylistic devices and uses for the same banal piece of fabric. “I like to experiment with social expectations regarding appearance and behaviour,” she explains about projects past and present.

   This year, her work takes the “form of a large series of [over forty] miniature paintings and drawings, as well as a hand-made book comprised of twenty etchings.” The paintings consist of strange scenes containing “a procession of monstrous ladies, raccoons and odd objects,” all done in pastel colours. As Lynch explains, the facade, not the content, “as a whole ironically conveys the aesthetic of a grandmotherly living room.”

   A connoisseur of her own nightmares, Blais also thrives in the perversion of the mundane and the homely lifestyles her Quebecois ancestors: look closer at her work, says Blais and “little girls in their Sunday best are torturing cute, cuddly animals, while old ladies are knitting scarves from their pubic hair and squirrels are shitting teacups.”

From the Bottom of the Hamper will be featured at the VAV gallery at 1395 Rene Levesque W. A vernissage will be held on Tuesday, September 2, 2008, from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.