“…Langevins’ solo exhibition, Falling Angels, at the Alberta Printmakers’ Society’s Artist Proof Gallery, is a continuation of a former series. The exhibition consists of figurative mez­ zotint prints and digital prints. Using the human form as his subject, Langevin’s mezzotints present a struggle between light and shadow, between abstraction and realism. Moving on from his earlier works which display a dark background with light projecting from the human figure, this series pres­ ents a clear background causing the figure to become less identifiable, and thus wraps the human figure in it’s own darkness.

‘Based on the duality between fugitiveness of light and moment’, Langevins’ work navigates between exactitude and blurry images to exaggerate this duality. The human figures portrayed, twist and become disfigured, modified by his ephemeral light, which in turn rests itself upon a metaphor of man’s consciousness of his own death. The belief of the eternity of one’s spirit or soul, or the attempt to make an existence appear longer in the memories of others, becomes representative in the ambiguous movement of the human figures…”

– excerpt from In Light or In Darkness – exhibition essay by Lizzie Carr

“…Using ‘writing and drawing in space’ Pascaline Knight has created A Knight move ou Petites Histoires Racontees Par Moi; an installation composed of a variety of pieces that utilize not only traditional printmaking techniques, but also collage, embroidery, sculptural elements and text. The title of the work references the game of chess, one of strategy and anticipation of another’s motives; the transformative action of butterfly from larval (or child) stage to adulthood; and the deeply personal subject matter of the underlying theme of the exhibition – death by suicide.

Referencing the daily and mundane details of life – often through a child-like lens – allows an access point to the work, and a glimpse into the invisible behind the visible that inspires Knight’s practice. This fragile reality, both intimate and shared, is communicated through a non linear narrative about death and grief created by the images, position of the objects and the use of text within the installation…”

– excerpt from Proliferations of the Senses  – exhibition essay by Melinda Topilko

“…Pál Csaba is a Hungarian artist based in the bustling capital city of Budapest. Csaba makes work using a variety of techniques and a wide range of subject matter. He says that the subject is often determined by the technique whether it’s printmaking, paintings, installation or digital prints. Inspiration for his most recent work is derived from the continuous conflict between our external world and our innermost dreams and desires. The viewer can clearly see this conflict when looking at the works. The harsh lines seem to embody this struggle. The question that Pál wants the viewer to answer is, “what is real and what is our inner response to this reality?”…”

– excerpt from Pál Csaba – exhibition essay by Concetta Zurzolo 

“…When philosopher Slavoj Zizek looks for meaning in a horror film, he suggests we should ignore whatever specifically causes the horror. Only then can we see the real content—the real horror—of the film’s story.This critical maneuver yields interesting results: Psycho becomes a film about women’s lives in a woman-hating society,Alien a piece about exploited workers under capitalism, and The Cabin in the Woods a treatise on humanism dying under consumerism.

It’s an interesting test for art of any type.

So. What happens if one disregards the ostensible or most obviously apparent contents of Paul Mitchell’s prints—the fragments of faces and bodies, the letters limned by a line of ink, the cartoon fang, the facade of a house, the tangle of trees and fencing?..”

– excerpt from So Close Yet So Far: Paul Mitchell’s Transmedia Yearning – exhibition essay by Mario Trono 

“…In her process, Brownridge uses both an iPhone and original Polaroid instant film to capture the images shown throughout this exhibit. While the result is similar, a more conspicuous comparison is achieved through contrasting modern and antiquated printing techniques by layering each digitally enlarged image and printed photograph with stone lithography. Although we may initially be drawn to the digitally printed photographic images, it is the lithographed patterns sourced from security envelopes, which cover each scene that lends a distinct and authentic aesthetic quality to each piece. Demonstrating the influential presence that modern digital technology has in print media, Brownridge compels us to engage with the traditional method and successfully illustrates that while it may be considered obsolete in comparison, it continues to share this presence. 

Her carefully chosen imagery likewise incites an alluring engagement with the obsolete…”

– excerpt from The Invention Moves in – exhibition essay by Tracy Wormsbecker