Curatorial Statement : Matthew Kyba
In order to forge ahead into the great beyond, artwork must have the ability to not only alter but positively change personal consciousness. Good contemporary art functions as tools for perspective-shifts and empathetic experiences. Through the collected artists, each aims to produces different planes of understanding of personal and shared narratives, consciousnesses , and states-of-being. Taking advantage of contemporary technology and artistic process, Dagmara Genda conflates digital and natural environments to question our consciousness of surrounding environments. Anna Eyler and Nicolas Lapointe often collaborate on interventions that disrupt the binary between ritual and conscious living, exemplifying how small and large art installations have the power to make you rethink the everyday. Caitlin Lapena appropriates found magazine materials from the 1970s and 80s fashion styles to create eerie faceless figures, complete with weapons and bandages. Her work investigates the media portrayal of the feminine form, voyeurism, and even collage practice in order to critically assess these aspects in art.
Nathan Piquette-Miller’s unique blend of experimental video-art, photography, and foreboding audio installations focus on returning to the concretely visual and immersive media art practices. In my conversations with him, he communicated that he strives to create accessible and engaging artworks that focus on effective experience. His practice tests the limit of new consciousness through the sheer visual stimuli and audio experience that each viewer engages with.
Each artist evolves the future of art in different but relevant ways. In order to expand into new consciousness, their practices’ test the limits of different thematic understandings.
BIO: Matthew Kyba is an independent curator currently living in Toronto, ON. He graduate with an MFA in Criticism and Curatorial Practice from OCAD U.