Curated by Brendan A. de Montigny + Studio Sixty Six Contemporary
Each day, at any moment, we may passby someone who is, in that exact same quasi-shared moment, experiencing one of the most profound moments of their life– Something remarkable, illuminating, and filled with discovery. When this happens, we their orbit of time and space, without even realizing they will remember that exact moment for the rest of their lives. Visions on the Edge explores these fantastical and bizarre moments of existence from the perspective of artists from all across Canada.
CHRISTOPHER PAYNE (This Was a Pizza Hut, 2024)
Christopher Payne is a multi-media-based artist in the Ottawa Valley. He is interested in creating artwork that brings people together to consider
the more calming and meditative aspects of life. His work explores hidden moments that exist in a liminal space between physical beauty and internal introspection. Payne is a part-time professor at the University of Ottawa. He holds a Master of Fine Art from uOttawa, a Degree in Arts and Cultural Management from Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Specialization in Film Production from Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, Concordia University in Montreal. For the Drake Devonshire, Christopher Payne has created a one-of-a-kind lenticular sculpture called This was a pizza hut, a reference to a Talking Heads song.
RYAN STATZ (Embrodiary + Sculpture)
Ryan Statz is a Calgary-based artist who redefines traditional embroidery by stitching fragments of conversations overheard in mundane public spaces like waiting rooms, coffee shops, and bars. His work captures the absurdity and poignancy of these snippets, transforming banal exchanges into profound and often hilarious commentaries on human nature. Statz’s embroidery subverts expectations, using a traditionally delicate medium to immortalize the transient and trivial.
GARY MCMILLAN (Painting)
Gary McMillan is based in Calgary and imagines other planetary characters inhabiting vibrant alien worlds. His paintings depict these fantastical beings engaged in bizarre and trippy activities, offering a humorous yet critical lens on contemporary societal norms. McMillan’s work blurs the line between reality and science fiction by using vivid colours and surreal scenarios to reflect on the absurdity of our communal existence.
ALASKA (Ceramic)
Alaska is based in Toronto, Ontario. A founding member of YAMANTAK A // SONIC TITAN, she has a Bachelor in Interdisciplinary Arts from Concordia University, a degree in Computer Animation from Sheridan college, and a passion for exploring the intersection between media and technology. Her practice moves fluidly between digital media production, installation and musical performance. Thematically, her work grapples with culture clash or ‘east’ meets ‘west’. These works are 3D-printed sculptures in resin.
BARRY COLPITTS (Sculpture)
Barry Colpitts is an outsider folk artist from East Ship Harbour, Nova Scotia. He has been carving since 1989. His brightly decorated house in Nova Scotia has become a popular attraction for local people and tourists alike. His sculptures depict animals and everyday life in a unique, playful approach to form and colour. Specifically, his sculptures are referred to as whiligigs, and have been featured at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Acadia University Art Gallery, and the Canadian Museum of History.
COLIN MUIR DORWARD (Ceramics)
Colin Muir Dorward is an award-winning artist living outside of Whitehorse, Yukon. He is primarily known for his paintings on canvas and ceramics. He holds a PhD from Western University, an MFA from the University of Ottawa, and a BFA from Emily Carr. His works are complex investigations about how adventuring, traveling, and spirituality has been captured throughout a larger conversation within Art History.