In Conversation: Cedric Bomford, Rick Leong, Michael Andrew McLean, Hollis Roberts, and Ralph Stanbridge

Join this intergenerational group of Victoria based artists for a conversation about what it looks like to be an artist, art professor, technician, in the times of Covid-19.  As active members of Victoria's art community through their respective and varied practices, these artists have already seen how current world events are shifting the way they, their colleagues, and students are working. How might art creation through the lens of a pandemic alter the way we make, think about, and teach art? Looking back through the last century, how have major world events influenced art production?

About the Artists

Image Credit: Cedric Bomford, Potemkin Village, Museum of Making, AB, 2018-19

Cedric Bomford currently lives and works in Victoria, British Columbia. His installation and photographic work has been exhibited internationally and he has participated in residencies in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. Cedric holds an MFA from the Malmö Art Academy (2007) and a BFA from Emily Carr University (2003). His work often focuses on the power dynamics established by constructed spaces and takes the form of large-scale rambling ad hoc architectural installations. The projects follow a methodology he calls ‘thinking through building’ in which construction takes on an emergent quality rather than an illustrative one. Concurrent to this installation work is a rigorous photographic practice that operates at times in parallel with and at others tangentially to the installation works.

While the majority of his projects are solo efforts, Bomford often works collaboratively with a number of different partners including his brother Nathan, father Jim and with other artists such as: Verena Kaminiarz, Mark Dudiak and Carl Boutard. He is currently chair of the visual arts department at the University of Victoria.  http://cedricbomford.com/

Imnage Credit: Rick Leong, Swell, 2019

Rick Leong is a Victoria-based artist that uses the language of landscape to explore hybridity between disparate experiences of space and place. Drawn from observation and influenced by historical Chinese art forms, Rick’s work investigates the interconnectedness of the land and the subjectivity of human experience. Rick obtained his MFA from Concordia University (Montreal, 2007), and his thesis work was acquired by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. In 2008, he was a finalist in the Royal Bank of Canada’s Painting Competition, touring to the National Gallery of Canada, the Power Plant (Toronto) and the Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver). In addition to having participated in many group exhibitions at various Canadian and international spaces, Rick has exhibited solo at Two Rivers Gallery (Prince George), Anna Leonowens Gallery (Halifax), and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Recent exhibitions include Arsenal (New York), Bradley Ertaskiran (Montreal) and Foundation Phi (Montreal).

https://rickleong.com/home.html

https://www.instagram.com/rickleongofficial/?hl=en

Image Credit: Mike Andrew McLean, Bear Glacier and Strohn Lake, outside Stewart, BC,July 12, 2019

Mike Andrew McLean lives and works in Victoria, British Columbia on the traditional territories of the Lekwungen and WSÁNEĆ peoples. His background as an artist and educator is in photography, and more recently film and animation. He works as the Media Technologist in the Department of Visual Arts at Camosun College and occasionally as a Sessional Instructor at UVic.

Website: mikeandrewmclean.com | Instagram: @mikeandrewmclean

Bird in Space link: https://vimeo.com/404724286

Image Credit: Hollis Roberts

Hollis Roberts practices explores object and image making through the destabilization of the domestic and the familiar. Through the use of textiles, metal and found objects she interrogates social ideologies of gender, class and permanence. Hollis was raised on Vancouver Island in the Comox Valley, and in 2016 earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Arts at the University of Victoria. Hollis currently resides in Victoria and works at UVIC in the Visual Arts Department as the Facility and Production Manager. https://www.hollisroberts.com/

Image Credit: Ralph Stanbridge

Ralph Stanbridge studied at the Vancouver School of Art from 1966-1970 graduating in Painting (Honours). This was followed by a year of producing work in London through the support of a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. After a brief return to Vancouver he moved to Montreal where he received his MFA at Concordia University in mixed media (1973-1977). He taught at Concordia as a sessional from 1974-1977. From there he moved to Victoria B.C. to assume a full time teaching position in the Visual Arts Program at Camosun College until his retirement in 2013. Stanbridge's practise has shifted from painting, in his undergraduate work, to photography and multi-media based works involving outdoor environmental installations, photography and sculptural gallery installations. These works were focused on re-imaging photos of Art Historical subject matter in the context of contemporary life, leading to large scale installations. The historical content made way for other social narratives, and added animation as an element, dealing with the oxymoronic nature of contemporary life. Stanbridge currently lives in Victoria B.C. where his current focus is drawing and animation.

The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is located on the traditional territories of the Lekwungen peoples, today known as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations. We extend our appreciation for the opportunity to live and learn on this territory.

Field Trip: Art Across Canada

We are pleased to partner with a new digital arts initiative,  FIELD TRIP: ART ACROSS CANADA. This new online platform delivers arts experiences with some of Canada’s most celebrated artists in a national partnership with leading arts organizations.