Alternator exhibition essays respond to the artworks presented through our Main Gallery exhibition series, and add another layer of interpretation to the exhibitions on view. These essays take a variety of forms: formal essays, Q&As with the artist, interpretive responses, and other types of creative writing pieces.
Read the essay supporting our current exhibition below, or review the essay archive going back to 2019.
Interested in writing for us? Learn how to join our roster of writers here.
As part of a new series of essays taking inspiration from the Alternator archive, Michaela Bridgemohan considers Crystal Przybille’s practice, and the connections between two of Przybille’s recent public art commissions: The Father Pandosy Mission 150th Anniversary Commemorative Sculpture (2012) and The Chief Sʷknc̓ut Monument (2019).
Read MoreThree Way Mirror is the collaboration of three queer artists from across Canada born in the 1970s – Daniel Barrow, Glenn Gear and Paige Gratland – who first connected in 2018 over a shared commitment to craft and ways of making like hand-drawn animation, sewing, weaving, leatherwork, beading, and paper dolls.
Read MoreAs part of a new series of essays taking inspiration from the Alternator archive, Lucas Glenn interviews prominent syilx artist Sheldon Pierre Louis to discuss his practice, and what it means to make space for syilx and Indigenous artists.
Read More'(un)resolving liminality', an interpretive essay on Jordan Hill’s exhibition, The Missing Distance, written by Aly K. Benson.
In an evergrowing world, with each passing chance for advances to take over, we as a people expand our abilities, and our minds have no option but to choose a narrowed lane of focus. To better state, yet paradoxically: as the world gets bigger, it gets smaller.
Read MoreAs part of a new series of essays taking inspiration from the Alternator archive, Erin Scott explores the ever-evolving community-based arts practice of Mariel Belanger.
Read MoreAs part of a new series of essays taking inspiration from the Alternator archive and activities, Andrea Routley considers Community Partnerships, and the value of creating a welcoming space.
Read MoreAs part of a new series of essays taking inspiration from the Alternator archive, Lucas Glenn connects with Andreas Rutkauskas to explore the representation of the climate in creative practice.
Read MoreAs part of a new series of essays taking inspiration from the Alternator archive, Erin Stodola explores the work of Julie Oakes, founding member of the Okanagan Artists Alternative Association, the society that runs the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art.
Read More“Maybe we should stop trying to understand the world and instead trust the wisdom of algorithms”
(Megan O’Gieblyn, 2024, pg. 100)
CGish amalgamates the digital with the analog, using custom generative algorithms to splice together objects into perplexing, yet believable, forms. Heather Savard, writes on the state of AI and the future of art.
Read MoreMichaela brings her own diasporic Afro-Carribean heritage forward with such sincerity. The scents in the salves of hair picks also pull from the landscapes of Kelowna. Patchouli, fir, and charcoal mix with black pepper, allspice, and shea butter. Scent mimics self as an olfactory Blackness is brought into this space.
Read MoreLike the sacred trickster coyote of Indigenous plateau lore, the pieces that RYAN! Feddersen makes us feel empathy While modelling to us our missteps, so that we may choose better for ourselves. RYAN! Feddersen (b. 1984, Wenatchee, Washington) is a mixed-media installation artist who conceives large-scale, site-specific pieces which use interactivity to create opportunities for personal introspection and discovery in the local community. RYAN! is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, and a descendant of the Okanagan and Arrow Lakes peoples.
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