Séwllkwe Exhibition

I noticed that the local gallery in Salmon Arm (Salmon Arm Arts Centre) is holding an open exhibition in November 2022 on the theme of water. Séwllkwe is a Secwepemc word meaning water, and artists of all ages and all backgrounds are welcome to participate. Up to three works can be submitted if size is 24” or less in any direction, or one work if size is above 24” in any direction. I have been thinking about taking out membership with the Arts Centre as it seems to be a major networking facility here in this rural town where I live. The gallery is not large by any means. It was built in 1937 as a post office, but it is local and I have seen some interesting work there. I will apply for membership which is quite cheap – only CAD$15 for a senior. As I can only submit 3 photographs I will probably make a selection from my photomontages. Something to carry forward for SYP, as I should have started that module by the time this exhibition comes around.

Metaphors in my work

Its probably a good idea to just capture a few thoughts about the metaphors and potential symbolism in my water/ice photo montages.

• Water can portray both a physical and a metaphysical pathway. The colour of water opens us up to different reflexive experiences. It gives form to the fluidity of our memories.
  = life, higher wisdom, renewal, reflection, subconscious, transformation (Symbolic Meaning of Water and the Wisdom of Water on Whats-Your-Sign, s.d.).
• Water -> ice = physical changes
• Brown = strength and reliability, resilience, security
  = loneliness, isolation
  = warmth, comfort
  = colour of growth, fertility and the earth, all natural & organic. Provides feelings organization, history & connection (Bourn, 2010).
• Ice = symbol of rigidity, frigidity, coldness, absence of love, difficult and unexplored territory
  = season of death
  = dividing line between conscious and unconscious (University of Michigan, s.d.).
• Snow = purity, innocence, hibernation, winter, flexibility, death (Snow Symbolism (9 Meanings in Dreams and Literature), s.d.).

Upon reflection, there is an obvious theme of water running through my BOW and that ties in well with the memories I am also trying to convey. The transformation that the lake under goes in the seasons in respect of differing colours, the freezing over of the lake’s surface also ties in with the passage of time or history that I’m trying to convey. I feel my water/ice collages do hint at physical changes, both in the landscape as it emerges from the thaw and also from the historical timeline. I was also pleased to see that the colour brown conveys a sense of history and connection and this does tie in well with my photo montages.

Bibliography

Bourn, J. (2010) Meaning of The Color Brown |. At: https://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-brown/ (Accessed  18/04/2021).

Snow Symbolism (9 Meanings in Dreams and Literature) (s.d.) At: https://symbolismandmetaphor.com/snow-symbolism/ (Accessed  18/04/2021).

Symbolic Meaning of Water and the Wisdom of Water on Whats-Your-Sign (s.d.) At: https://www.whats-your-sign.com/symbolism-of-water.html (Accessed  22/07/2021).

University of Michigan (s.d.) Ice. At: http://umich.edu/~umfandsf/symbolismproject/symbolism.html/I/ice.html (Accessed  18/04/2021).

Water Experiments – 24 November 2020

I managed to take a bit of a break from Contextual Studies today and decided to try a few more water experiments. My snow experiments are on hold at the moment, while I wait for the weather to change. It never ceases to amaze me how the colour of the water changes with time passing. As in my previous post, I’m just going to post a link to the original archive, so if you would like to see that image, please click on the appropriate archive heading.

I kept to my previous method of just creating layers, using a gradient layer and then painting in/out parts of the images.

Doebert Archive

Fig. 1

I’m not sure about the layout in this image, perhaps the water overlay is not right for the images. I have found that some work better with certain images.

Fig. 1a

Cassia Archive

Fig. 2

I had previously used this archival photo in a mountain mist image, but I definitely prefer the water version. I think this version is more ethereal.

Fig. 2a

Fig. 3

I like the way that the shoreline of the landscape blends with the water’s reflections in the image below.

Fig. 3a

 

Fig. 4

Another one I’m not totally sure about. The water might just be a tad too busy towards the bottom for this archival image.

Fig. 4a

Ogden Archive

Fig. 5

I think this is one of the successful ones. The blue tones of the water fit well over the cabin’s structure and are complemented by the sepia tones and reflections above the cabin’s roof.

Fig. 5a

Fig. 6

Although the tonalities work in Fig. 6a, I really am not happy with it. The original image has very definitely yellow lines on it, that look as if someone went over the image with a highlighter. It is a photocopy of the original image which was behind glass. I did photograph the original image which is huge and will have to look and see if it is good enough to use for this instead.

Fig. 6a

I really like the original image of the toddler walking on the train tracks, but I don’t think this one is working with this water overlay. There is too much of ‘tunnel’ effect around the archive photo.

Fig. 6b