Friday, 24 February, 2023
11am – 12pm
In-Person Venue: Studio 531 Architects, 546 Herald St.
Virtual: (register to receive zoom link)
You can register through our CreativeMornings page for the zoom link, or RSVP for in-person attendance via email arts@vicartscouncil.ca
February’s Theme is Touch.
When we open ourselves to the ineffable — what cannot be transmitted through words — touch emerges as a language unto itself. The grit of the soil under our bare feet, the clay slip enrobing a potter’s wheel, the sun-warmed fur of a beloved pet — these sensations can be healing.
How will you stay in contact with the electric matter that keeps us alive? What will pass through your hands today?
About this month’s speaker:
David Martinello is a multidisciplinary artist who investigates the characteristics of wood. His work is motivated by the development of techniques as a way to celebrate wood’s influence and muse with its agency. Martinello ventures to activate the legacy of wood so that its tactility can behave as a tool for contemplation, a way to identify with the environment and materiality of all things.
Martinello’s practice is informed by a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Queen’s University and years building furniture with his company Alternative Woodworks. Martinello has curated several shows in BC, owned a gallery and his art has been shown across Canada with a sculpture permanently displayed at the Cowichan Community Centre.
Martinello’s piece Pliant is on view now at Studio 531 Architects. Pliant draws upon wood’s expressive attributes in conjunction with the particulars of the window gallery at Studio 531 Architects to flex between organic and geometric lines. Shaped by wood’s gestures the sculpture invites viewers to consider how wood’s essence is crafted into the framework of our buildings. This inspires narratives for all materials and has Pliant use its form to have the space respond to it.