“…Ericka Walker’s lithographic prints in her series You Are Needed speak to the viewer across the decades that span early- 20th century wartime to the present day. Like a formidable call to attention, viewers are invited to come face-to-face with the series’ bold imagery, powerful imperatives, and the deeper meanings behind them.

Although Walker’s prints engage in a re-presentation of wartime propaganda posters, they veer away – in increasingly apparent ways – from mere appropriation. As we perceive the intricate depiction of a horse’s flanks or the fine details of a rocket launcher, we feel a sense of the artist’s celebratory reverence for machinery, innovation, and the lithographic craft itself. At the same time, a poignant critique of propaganda appears tangibly woven into the display of text and imagery that are juxtaposed in unsettling ways. “Victory,” reads one print, “is a question of stamina…”

– excerpt from exhibition essay by Jessie Bryant

“…By choosing a drastic reduction of form and material, Hélène Latulippe emphasizes action in her series Embroidery of Code Lines. Comprised of four prints, made by inking an object and then rubbing paper laid over it, the work demonstrates the simplest and earliest of printmaking techniques. Viewed from afar the lines depicted stand in orderly stillness, but close-up they vibrate with inconsistency.

Indeed if we are to consider that this could be code as the title suggests, then it is the moments of delineation that require attention. There are the instances of larger trans­gression: where lines are split, crossed, paused or ended incomplete. These punctuations are at times made with collage: pasted craft paper causes slight elevations of the surface, as an embroidery would do. Perhaps there is also a code within a code, because the subtle meanderings of the lines, so minute, are like the grooves in a vinyl record…”

– excerpt from exhibition essay by Stacey Watson

“…First impressions of Bovey’s newest 20” x 30” faux slate works in World Machine reveal the use of “trompe-l’œil”, an optical illusion or trick of the eye, designed to give the viewer a sense that they are examining an age-old teaching tool and traditional repository or knowledge, the chalkboard. 

As Bovey’s work, created through multiple technologies and media, writes, re-writes and scrapes away the surface, literally and figuratively, so too does the traditional chalkboard. If a chalkboard is  a locale of learning and information transfer, Bovey reveals it also as one of erasure, repositioning and revised histories. 

Bovey’s critical understanding of printmaking’s varied process allows him to treat “every work as a journey” in which the exploration of a multitude of artistic media creates a forum for open dialogue between artist and viewer…”

– excerpt from exhibition essay by Skylar Borgstrom 

“…Jimin Lee creates and communicates stories, through her prints, of experiences which focus on the physical point of a body and the ways in which that body relates to the space around it. The incredible familiarity of the imagery she utilizes creates a sense of deja-vu, allowing the viewer to see both a particular moment that Lee herself must have experienced and, simultaneously, one which they themselves may have had. Through this familiarity, repetition, and open narration Lee transforms brief captured moments into disarmingly familiar narratives about both the artist, and her viewers.

In the past, Lee has often been recognized for her work dealing with mundane and everyday objects; objects which have a relationship to her body through repetitive acts of touch, indicative of and referential to lived personal experiences…”

– excerpt from Capturing Moments – exhibition essay by Sheri Nault

“…Rachel Duckhouse exhibits her print-based artwork in Wave Interference, a study of Calgary’s water infrastructure and the effects of the recent flooding. This body of work is the continuation of Duckhouse’s exploration of patterning and system map­ping–those familiar with her practice will recognize the delicate pen and ink drawings that highlight her skillful hand. Her work is dynamic- aesthetically it draws parallels to early Op Art in the way she represents rhythm and reverberation. Also present throughout the exhibition is an emotive quality that bridges the abstract with the personal.

For the past year, Duckhouse has served as the Artist in Residence for Watershed+, a partnership between the city of Calgary’s Public Art Program and its Parks and Utilities departments. Stationed at Ralph Klein Park, she consulted with civic engineers in developing a visual language to represent the city’s water systems. She also had the opportunity to conduct field research and survey the trajectory of water flow throughout the municipal system.

Her recent exhibition Only Flow at TRUCK Contemporary Art imagined Calgary’s waterways as if they were architectural elements in their own right- eliminating existing structures such as the riverbed and bridges from the picture plane allowing for the flowing water to take precedence…”

– excerpt from Wave Interference – exhibition essay by Keri Macleod