ArtistCircle invites you to their show at the Port Moody Arts Centre in honor of the United Nations World Water Day.
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 14th, 2008 from 6 - 8 pm.
Show Dates: February 14th through March 23rd
Port Moody Arts Centre
2425 St. John's Street
Tel: 604-931-2008
(map)
Participating Artists:
Anastasia Barabanova, Mara Baudais, Shirley Beattie, Melanie Cossey, Rick Glumac, Arabel Luk, Renee Phillips, Kathy Stubbs, Nathania Vishnevsky, Randall Weidner
This show is presented in observance of the United Nations World Water Day on March 22nd.
From the awesome power of waves crashing to the subtle power of a gentle stream eroding rock over the eons, water is something that is omnipresent but often overlooked. It surrounds us in the womb and sustains our lives. The chemical properties of water, which are essential to cell function, make life possible. Water makes up the bulk of our body mass yet we give it little thought until faced with a shortage.
Life sprang from the primordial sea and water figures prominently in spiritual rites and creation myths of many major global religions yet we use the vast unexplored frontier of the ocean as a dumping ground for our waste. Battles are currently being fought in the developing world over privatization of water rights. As potable water becomes more scarce water is poised to have great global sociopolitical implications as oil does today.
The sound of water is like music, the flow calms us and slows the liquid flow in our veins. Water is symbolic of life itself - the river that carries all of us along no matter if we are swimming with or against the current. The beauty of water has always been inspirational to artists and we hope that this show will inspire others to consider the importance of this precious natural resource.
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Anastasia Barabanova Title: "La pluie" |
"Rain is release of tension. Water (emotion) that was stored or contained (in a cloud) now is released. Rain can indicate an emotional cleansing, and a period of creative fertility. Rain is common in "breakthrough" dreams, where a dreamer suddenly realizes he or she has entered a period of new direction and purpose, and understanding. If you dream of rain, ask yourself what emotions have just been released, that you are allowing to mingle freely with your conscious awareness?"
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Mara Baudais Title: "Riding the Waves of Life" |
'Within the depths, within the heights
We wave and pass each other by...
Upon ocean's ever-changing face
We're held in the arms of a limitless sky'
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Shirley Beattie Title: "Coastal Waters " |
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Melanie Cossey Title: "Lucinda and Eugene Bring You an Important Message" |
Fisheries and Oceans Canada states that heavy water use contributes to low water flows and high water temperatures in rivers and streams, which increases stress and mortality in salmon returning to spawn and can expose physical barriers preventing fish from reaching spawning grounds. These conditions can also increase mortalities among young salmon and trout rearing in streams.
For information on how you can conserve water, please visit http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/reseau/watertips/watertips_e.html
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Rick Glumac Title: "Edge"
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A small creek after snowfall reveals the beauty and momentary complexity of nature
"The rate of soil transfer during a heavy storm is more than forty times greater on clear cut land as on undisturbed old-growth forest."
-J.W. Schwab, Mass Wasting: October-November 1978 Storm, Rennel Sound, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia
from Wilderness Committee Educational Report Vol.10 - No.03
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Arabel Luk Title: "Flowing Water" |
Expressing the rhythm of flowing water in rolling waves and gushing waters while playing and listening to Guqin - Flowing Water.
Water is essential to life, covers most of our planet and makes up to 60% of our body weight. It has a role in everyday acts and rites of passage: you might bathe simply to get clean or to symbolize your transition from one way of being to another. Equally it can be a source of conflict: who owns water and who doesn't? The importance of water in all our lives also brings with it responsibility. We each need to play our part in looking after water and ensuring that there is enough for future generations to enjoy - Based on Tate museum printed material "Thinking about water"
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Renee Phillips Title: "A Closer Look "
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"Everything is connected...no one thing can change by itself" (Paul Hawkin)
From the moment our children enter this world they should be taught that all living things are interdependent. We depend on one another for a full and healthy existence. Teaching them to take a closer look at this shared environment and understanding just how important it is to our very survival, is their first step to respecting, loving and caring for it.
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Kathy Stubbs Title: "Ice Flowers "
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"Seasons come and seasons go,
And the greatest ice must crumble
When it's flowers time to grow.
And as one thing is beginning
So another thing must die.."
Excerpt from Shel Silverstein poem, Snowman.
Water refers to the liquid form of a substance which also has a gaseous state, water vapour, and a solid state, ice. Saltwater oceans, including Port Moody's inlet, hold 97% of surface water, glaciers and polar ice caps 2.4%, and rivers, lakes and other land surface water another 0.6%.
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Nathania Vishnevsky Title: "Special Properties" |
"Most fundamentally, water is essential for life. Every living organism on earth must have water in some form in order to survive. Every living cell is composed primarily of water. When space probes are dispatched to other planets in search of other life forms, they look for the presence to water to determine if life, as we know it, is possible there." - From the University of Manitoba's Home Page for the Experimental Lakes Area
Test to see how much you know about "Water - The Essential Substance"
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Randall Weidner Title: "Water In The River" |
"Water in our rivers, is like blood in our veins."
The artists participating in "Water = Life" are members of ArtsConnect's ArtistCircle group which connects creative minds for support, inspiration and collaboration.
Please contact the Port Moody Art Centre if you would like to purchase these artworks.
If you would like to know more please see the following web sites:
Port Moody Art Centre www.pomoartscentre.ca
UN World Water Day www.worldwaterday.org
ArtsConnect www.artsconnect.ca
All images copyrighted - please contact individual artists for terms of use.
Web design and show proposal by Nathania Vishnevsky