VICTORIA ARTS COUNCIL

Shelf Life.

A window project curated by Kegan McFadden
670 Fort Street

A group show presented sequentially, Shelf Life. is an examination of the finite, of mortality, exhaustion, and the possibility of what’s to come as well as what is left behind. Over the course of our time on Fort Street, we will be presenting the work of one artist at a time in the large windows, viewable any time of day or night.

From May through December of 2024, the Victoria Arts Council presented unique and diverse installations in the window of our Fort Street venue by: Chin Yuen, Heidi Bergstrom, Ryan O’Lewis, John G Boehme, Ronnie Montreal, Cedar Walton, Jane Coombe, and Faro Annie Sullivan.

This project is made possible by the generous community partnership with The Bay Centre, and is supported by the Province of British Columbia, BC Arts Council, CRD Arts, as well as VAC membership.

December 2024: Of Special Concern (Extirpated, Endangered, Threatened): Red and Blue listed Birds of British Columbia by Faro Annie Sullivan

Of Special Concern (Extirpated, Endangered, Threatened): Red and Blue listed Birds of British Columbia bears witness to the ongoing loss of biodiversity in British Columbia. Since BC has the highest rate of biodiversity in Canada, consequently we have the highest rate of threatened species, including more than 100 species of birds. The provincial government has stalled out on creating meaningful endangered species protection laws. As citizens we can urge the government to move forward with the Draft Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (including a timeline leading to legislation co-developed with First Nations) and commit our province to taking action to preserve and enhance BC’s ecological integrity.

Faro Annie Sullivan is a self-taught ceramic artist, educator and studio technician who work explores relationships with the natural world through visual narrative. Of Irish, English, and French descent, she is blessed to be living in the territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Kosapsum) speaking peoples. She studied creative writing at the University of Victoria and has a degree in Folklore from Memorial University of Newfoundland. After 20 years as a studio potter, she is currently exploring ceramic installation and sculpture. She also maintains a position as studio technician at Camosun College. Faro has a passion for creating as well as sharing her skills with those willing to be playful and get dirty.

November 2024: Tracing Tracks by Jane Coombe

Tracing Tracks is a geological installation of found rocks, precious metals, core logs, photographs, paintings and Plexiglas sculptures. The installation is inspired by memories of looking for jet-black stones on the beaches in England, garnets in Scottish outcrops, gold in Wales and my partner’s search for precious metals and mapping in the Saskatchewan Precambrian Shield. Personal geography, space, landscapes and the environment, together with maps, memory and media create the structural basis of the work. Elements associated with places, repetition, aging, re-using, layering, tracing and reworking are catalysts that drive my drawing, painting and sculptural practice.

Jane Coombe is a British born, Canadian artist living in Victoria, British Columbia, with a contemporary art practice in painting, sculpture and 3-D installation. Jane graduated with a Diploma in Art from the Vancouver Island School of Art (VISA) in 2017.  

October 2024: Identity by Cedar Walton

I am a differently abled, neurodivergent, single coparent of a 10 year old human, pansexual, trans and genderfluid.  I am white with ancestry from Europe with a history of colonialism,  I seek to undo harm my ancestors have been for and against in my lineage. I came into being on Blackfoot territory, known as colonized Calgary, Alberta. 

I create works from my heart that attest to my spirituality, my integration of the self, self knowledge and my placement in community. 

My work is an expression of the inner worlds, I encounter, the people I am in contact with and the interpretation through my experience captured in many forms of visual and performance mediums. 

September 2024:  Ta’pitj’ij (Little David) 

In the 1940s my uncle was abducted from the family yard on Membertou(NS) reservation. I wove thick paper to construct a mi’kmaq basket / wigwam. With accompanying audio, I hope in some way to bring my uncle’s spirit peace and help heal my family and community. Ronnie Montreal

I graduated from University of Victoria with a BFA in 1990. I completed the work for my MFA at Hunter College, City University of New York, in 1993.

I am a Mik’maq person with European ancestry. In the ’50s my grandmother took my mother and her other children out of residential school and moved to Toronto, where my mother hid her identity. In the ’60s my mother had her native identity stripped away and then reinstated in the ’80s by the Canadian Government. Her experiences have left a hole in me and many questions about identity. 

August 2024: My Dad’s Keys by John G. Boehme

Keeping objects under “lock and key” was an element of my father’s psyche. As the son of an antiquarian I have early memories of objet d’art, antiquities, and historical artifacts being stolen, which was met with my father’s consternation, and a growing amount of keys, to keep these valuables safe and secure.

John G. Boehme is a multi-hyphenate artist whose work spans performance, education, and curation. His practice is deeply rooted in exploring social and political themes through a multidisciplinary approach, blending elements of visual art, live performance, and critical pedagogy.

A performance of My Dad’s Keys took place Wednesday 31 July; the installation as part of Shelf Life is the culmination of that performance.

July 2024: ENOUGH by Ryan O’Lewis

Enough reflects on the collective resistance Pride initially emerged from as a response to systemic violence experienced by the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and which we continue to navigate. In a seemingly simple sculpture, O’Lewis calls attention to the complex issue of Queer Battle Fatigue many 2SLGBTQIA+ Folx struggle with. The act of existing, being visible, speaking up, and living authentically in one’s queerness slowly carves out possibilities for Queer Joy to emerge without violence.

Ryan O’Lewis (he/him) is a queer, (dis)abled, Canadian artist currently residing on the unceded traditional territories of the T’Sou-ke and Scian’new Nations. His art practice explores sexuality, masculinity, (dis)ability and mental health. More specifically the intricate relationship one has with themselves and how they experience spaces with invisible marginalized identities.

Ryan will present a brief artist talk about this project, in conversation with Shelf Life. curator, Kegan McFadden: Wednesday 31 July @ 5:45PM…

June 2024: Phoenix by Heidi Bergstrom

Heidi Bergstrom brings her take on the Phoenix to the Shelf Life project. This site-specific work created from paper, sinew, moose hide, textile fibres, and vinyl offers a visual allusion to the mythological winged creature symbolizing rebirth and renewal. Bergstrom’s installation incorporates natural and synthetic materials, pointing to a continuum where the viewer is left to decipher whether it is the remains or the reemergence of the Phoenix on display.

Heidi Bergstrom (she/her) is a settler of mixed Euro-Scandinavian (Sweden and Iceland) background, and her family is Michif from Red River in Manitoba. She is a multimedia visual artist in Victoria, BC, Canada. Her fine art practice and exhibitions includes work in painting, printmaking, book binding, textiles, video and photography, and multimedia installations. Heidi has exhibited her work in Canada, the United States, and internationally. 

May 2024: Takotsubo, a prelude by Chin Yuen

In response to the death of her mother, Mei Ying Wong (1938 – 2020), Chin Yuen began experiencing Takotsubo cardiomyopathy or “Broken Heart Syndrome.” The syndrome is coined as such since it causes a part of the heart to swell, resembling a Japanese octopus trap, takotsubo. As a way of processing the physical manifestation resulting from this profound grief, the artist turned to her studio and began experimenting intuitively with ceramics, creating a series of hand-pressed pots in the form of takotsubo.

International award-winning Canadian painter, Chin Yuen, was born in Malaysia.  She studied in Singapore and England before moving to Canada for further education. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honors from Emily Carr University of Art and Design and a Master of Arts from the University of Victoria.  After graduation, she moved to Japan and Italy, where she taught English and Fine Arts for several years before returning home to Canada.  Yuen continues to travel extensively for work and pleasure.  She sees her diverse cultural exposures as an artistic asset that, combined with her love of imaginative inventions, inspires and shapes her creations.  For over 25 years, she has exhibited internationally. Her dynamic abstract paintings are on the covers of international textbooks and the walls of residential homes, hotels, health care centres, and corporate buildings.