Medalta showcasing trio of artists in residence

Posted on June 22, 2023 by Ryan Dahlman

By Kendall King
Southern Alberta Newspapers

Medalta is inviting southern Albertans to visit its 2023 International Artists in Residence solo exhibition, running now until July 9, and encouraging them to ponder the immense questions each artist explores through their work.

This year’s exhibition includes works by three long-term artists in residence: Tomo Ingalls, Daniel Labutes and Corwyn Lund.

Hanging In by Tomo Ingalls

In her exhibit, Ingalls – who trained at the Gloucester Pottery School, the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design and Alberta University of the Arts – combines ceramic creations with performance art to question the ways physical matter can shape personal identity.

Through use of ceramic sculptures made from plaster-press moulds of her own body and a large box-like performance space, within which she sits atop a mound of clay, Ingalls invites audiences to consider how bodies continually transform through life, in relation to the material belongings in, or absent from, their possession.

Self-Portraits by Daniel Labutes

Through creation of “unconventional” and “nearly functional” ceramic pots, Labutes, a Medicine Hat-based studio potter trained at the Alberta University of the Arts, explores what it means to belong in relation to individuality versus conformity.

Created through a combination of wheel-throwing and hand-building techniques, the pots are large, rough, cracked and in no way beautiful, yet somehow remain engaging, says Lebautes; hinting at their similarities to himself and humans in general.

Heatwork Cinema by Corwyn Lund

Simple at first glance, Toronto-based, Rhode Island School of Design and Alfred University-trained artist Corwyn Lund’s exhibit aims to evoke curiosity and unease among viewers.

Consisting only of a large white box with small section of brick through which a red glow emerges, Lund recalls the anxiety he felt growing up during the Cold War, and the uncertainty he still holds in regards to Earth’s and humanity’s future.

Located in Medalta’s Yuill Gallery, the International Artists in Residence solo exhibition is open Tuesdays through Saturdays. Admission is free.