https://www.comoxvalleyartgallery.com

Artist Residency and Community Collaboration

ORACULAR RE-ENCOUNTERS + ORACULAR CO-ENCOUNTERS I & II 

artist talk at Stan Hagan Theatre Tuesday, February 10, 12 – 1pm

Artist Talk and Community Dialogue: Saturday, January 24, 7:30 pm
Barbara Bickel and R. Michael Fisher at Creekside Commons Cohousing.
Barbara Bickel collaborates with R. Michael Fisher, who is in a parallel residency at Creekside Commons Cohousing.
Spontaneous Art Making – EVERYONE WELCOME – January 28, 31, February 4, 7, & 11
Drop in: Wednesdays from 1-2:30pm, Saturdays from 11am-12:30pm
Public Performance/Interactions at CVAG: Fridays, 11am to 1pm – Jan 30, Feb 6 & 13
Artist Talk: Tuesday, February 10, 12–1 pm at North Island College Stan Hagan Theatre
Public Performance Closing Event: Saturday, February 14, 12:30 pm at CVAG,
with adjunct performance events starting at noon and artists’ talks to follow
Parallel Residency at Creekside Closing: Sunday, February 15 at 7pm
Partners: Creekside Commons Cohousing Community, Emily Carr University and North Island College Fine Arts Department

Matrixial mediated co-encounters with/in and on art, space and others is the restorative and transformative substance of this residency at CVAG, describes Barbara Bickel.

What would happen when art in a traditional gallery alters the architectural space to guide a more co-relational and multi-sensorial experience of art? A co-emergent and co-evolving experience of art?
Working with the idea of feminine architecture, beginning with the geomantic structure of the labyrinth, historical sacred sites, their architectural acoustics and rituals, this installation transforms the architecture of traditional art gallery spaces temporarily and fosters an embodied art viewing, sounding and listening experience.

Drawing upon the template of one of my art installations entitled Oracular Co-Encounters, the experience includes community members engaging in spontaneous art making, and installing it within the feminine architecture I’ve developed as a template (involving textile wall hangings, and floor labyrinths as both horizontal and vertical architectural intervention).
These public interactions invite embodied and vocal experiences through engagement with the feminine architecture of the installation, with video documentation incorporated into the overall installation.

–Barbara Bickel

Barbara Bickel 

Barbara Bickel is an artist, researcher, and educator. An Associate Professor in Art Education and Director of Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies (WGSS) at Southern Illinois University, she teaches art as an inquiry and meaning making process.

Barbara’s research interests include arts-based inquiry methods, collaboration, socially-engaged art, connective aesthetics, feminist art and pedagogy, adult learning, and restorative & transformative learning.

Her art and performance rituals have been exhibited and performed in Canada and the US since 1991. She co-founded The Centre Gallery (1995-2001), a non-profit women’s focused gallery in Calgary, Alberta and founded Gallery 3342 (2013-), a women, gender and sexuality focused gallery. She is a co-founder and member of the Gestare Art Collective. gestareartcollective.com

Barbara’s article’s on arts-based inquiry have been published in numerous journals and book chapters. Recently she co-edited a book entitled Arts-Based Contemplative Prectices In Research & Teaching.