EXHIBITION WORKS FOR PURCHASE

NEW ARTIST EDITION

We are pleased to debut on the occasion of the show a special new Risograph artist edition designed by Alicia Nauta and published by Possible Worlds. Edition of 50 and signed by the artist.

The Pattern
Alicia Nauta
August 27 to September 26, 2021

Opening/Vernissage: August 27, 2021, 7-10 PM
Artist in attendance
Special performance by Carl Didur

SHOW DESCRIPTION

Possible Worlds is pleased to present The Pattern, an exhibition by Toronto-based artist Alicia Nauta. The Pattern is Nauta’s second solo exhibition at Possible Worlds. Alicia will be joining us at Possible Worlds’ first in-person exhibition opening, on Friday, August 27, from 7-10 PM. Experimental music artist, partner and collaborator Carl Didur will be giving a special live performance.

Environmental degradation, the crumbling of civilization, abstracted and psychedelic reality, domestic space, and human belonging are key themes that are explored in Alicia’s work.

Images collected from earlier publications, such as home decor guides from the 60's and 70's, botanical guides and encyclopedias, and pre-computer graphic design manuals, form the basis of Nauta’s work. The images are then manipulated, photocopied, cut, pasted and finally screen printed. 

By drawing on shared, repeated visual fragments of the past, her compositions are reassuringly familiar. At the same time, these fragments are combined in a way that challenge logic, space, and time, leaving the viewer unsettled or alienated, questioning reality. For example, the laws of physics seem to have gone amiss in her compositions: shadows go opposite ways, the wind blows in different directions, darkness comes from a lamp's light. Images are often positioned on contrasting dimensional planes - a 2D object next to a 3D object - representing multiple and sometimes conflicting perspectives. Doorways and windows are a recurring motif, offering us a glimpse into another time and place.

☼

Every motion of a single leaf moves every leaf of every tree... There is a pattern.
That's what you must look for and look to. Nothing goes right but as part of the pattern.
-Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin

The wind whistles its own tune.
We are only passing through, these places are here to stay.
They have their own soul.
We are only passing through.

☼

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Alicia Nauta is a Tkaronto based artist. She makes collages from her archive of photocopied material culled from books found in thrift stores and reference libraries. The collages are translated to screenprint, risograph and cyanotype in the form of prints, wallpaper, books, textiles and other multiples. Much of her work serves as speculative windows. Spaces are inhabited by vegetation, familiar and unfamiliar beings, abandoned architecture and strange, shifting perspectives, suggesting possibilities found in the uncertain and unwritten future. Her work has been shown at the Plumb, Toronto Public Reference Library, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto Ferry Terminal Docks, Gallery 44, Art Metropole, Burnaby Public Library, Printed Matter and Koganecho Art Centre. She was the artist in residence at the AGO; her giant collaborative book, library project and exhibition, 'A book from the world tomorrow' was supposed to open March 14, 2020.

Carl Didur is a performer and composer of music of many kinds. He has played electric piano, organs and synthesizer both solo and with bands such as Zacht Automaat and U.S. Girls. He has also performed many shows using 1/4" reel-to-reel tape loops, inspired by the pioneering work of Daphne Oram and Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and their contemporaries. His compositions and improvisations draw inspiration from Pop music, Minimalism and the Avant Garde and often feature melodic patterns repeating and phasing over each other, evocative of natural processes like water flowing over rocks or leaves waving in the wind. When improvising on the Wurlitzer Electric Piano he favours the sweet and sad, often employing cascading arpeggios and tone clusters inspired by French Impressionism, but he is also happy to play a simple song for you.
http://www.zachtautomaat.bandcamp.com
http://www.youtube.com/c/carldidur

Alicia Nauta has made the cover artwork for three of his albums and Alicia's Klassic Kool Shoppe pressed and released Zacht Automaat's album Memory of the World on vinyl in 2019.

We would like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

NEW ARTIST EDITION

We are pleased to debut on the occasion of the show a special new Risograph artist edition designed by Ayesh Kanani and produced by Possible Worlds. Edition of 50 and available for purchase.

ARTIST TALK

Ground Truths
Ayesh Kanani

Exhibition: June 18 to July 25, 2021 (extended!)
Online artist walkthrough: Sunday June 27, 2021, 5:30 PM EDT

SHOW DESCRIPTION

Possible Worlds is pleased to present Ground Truths, an exhibition by emerging Canadian ceramic artist Ayesh Kanani.

Ground Truths is Kanani’s first solo exhibition exploring an ongoing project to build a visual language for new possibilities of interconnection and belonging. Kanani uses clay and utilitarian forms as a foundation to create a collection that is tactile and enduring. The balanced geometric nature of the forms along with their emerald tones reference influences and studies into South Asian and Islamic art, ceramics, and architecture. Each form is wheel thrown and individually hand altered exploring material transformation and structured surfaces. Kanani evokes a sense of grounding in their work through their repeated process of shaping highly structured vessels. The collection is a reflection of ongoing transformations and possibilities with clay. Kanani explores themes of preservation and valuing interconnection to bring about a better future. 

ARTIST STATEMENT

As a self-taught artist, I get to focus on learning from clay itself as a malleable medium, while also studying traditional practices and contemporary techniques for shaping forms. I have observed how clay material demonstrates endless pathways for ongoing transformation and change. I’m interested in this process of interchange, resistance, and cohesion. As a queer person of colour my life is shaped by histories of fighting for rights and ongoing movements for change that allow me to be here today and to keep moving forward. I want to believe that change is possible and that our interconnected realities give us power and strength. I wanted to create work that instills a sense of value: Valuing people and our surroundings and valuing life over capital. The vessels I create are grounded in clay’s lasting materiality, responsiveness, and transformative qualities.

ARTIST-LED WORKSHOP

Participants joined Ayesh Kanani and Possible Worlds on Tuesday May 25 for an online artist-led workshop on Clay at Home.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Ayesh Kanani has a growing a personal practice that allows them to study materials, explore important histories, and be a part of creating new possibilities with clay. They are passionate about building a clay practice that is slow and intentional and grounded in building better access. Their work is informed by their lived experiences as a queer person of colour and their work background in LGBTQ+ advocacy work and disability arts. They have been learning through open studio practice, taking classes, exploring mentorship, and developing new work. Over the years they have been growing their skills and taking on bigger projects. Ayesh’s practice is currently based at the Gladstone Clayworks Cooperative Studio in Ottawa, Algonquin Anishinaabe Territory.

> ARTIST WEBSITE
> ARTIST INSTAGRAM

We would like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

Process
Do It for the Grain

Process is an exhibition organized by Do It for the Grain (DIFTG) to celebrate the 2-year anniversary of their publication. DIFTG is an emerging Ottawa-based analog photography zine that promotes and empowers local photographers through accessible publications.

Show Description

Do It for the Grain celebrates physical photography and publications in an increasingly virtual world. The process of creating images through analog methods can be experimental, timely, and exciting - not unlike DIFTG’s growth over the past two years. To commemorate their anniversary, DIFTG is showcasing their selection of lens-based artists in Ottawa working in analog mediums, with emphasis on those who bend the rules and experiment with the medium. This occasion also marks their expansion into the realm of limited-edition photo books and zines, produced in-house to facilitate and guide the projects and artistic visions of emerging local photographers. If this past year has taught us anything, it’s that although the future is uncertain, their process will evolve with it.

Exhibiting Artists

MaryAnn Camps
Kenneth Charlebois
Nicolai Gregory
Sandra Hawkins
Olivia Johnston
Alexia Kokozaki
Ava Marguerite
Kate Roy
Max Rubarth
Maxine S
Yuli Sato

We would like to acknowledge funding support for this exhibition from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

EXHIBITION TOUR + ARTIST TALK

WORKS FOR SALE

NEW ARTIST EDITION

We are pleased to debut on the occasion of the show a special new Risograph artist edition by Robin Richardson-Dupuis. Produced by Possible Worlds in an edition of 50 and available for purchase (frame not included).

Everything is Constantly Changing
Robin Richardson-Dupuis

Exhibition: February 12 to March 7, 2021
Online artist walkthrough: Sunday February 21, 5:45-6:00 PM EST on Instagram @possibleworldsshop. View it here.
Artist-led workshop: Thursday March 4, 6:00-8:00 PM EST, Expressive Typography, register here

Possible Worlds is pleased to present the first exhibition at our new space in Hintonburg, Everything is Constantly Changing, by emerging Canadian illustrator and graphic designer Robin Richardson -Dupuis. A supporter of community-driven art and design initiatives, Robin has been a long-time collaborator of Possible Worlds, working on projects such as the Ottawa Alternative Culture Map, design work for our silkscreening program, and graciously donating their Gratitude design towards our Kickstarter campaign. We are honoured to be sharing Robin’s work in their first solo exhibition featuring illustrations made between 2018-2021.

We will be featuring Robin’s work in our gallery as well as in our windows, part of a vitrine installation series. This leverages Possible Worlds’ street level accessibility and storefront location to ensure the public can view the work during the pandemic. It is very much in keeping with Robin’s approach to design, and we want to thank them for their flexibility and openness in presenting their work during this time. Additionally, we will be hosting an online artist walk through and typography workshop open to all creative levels.

SHOW DESCRIPTION

We are made of memory: the self is a complex compilation of everything that has ever been processed by our senses. How do our emotions distort our notions of sensory experiences, interactions, and events? Everything is Constantly Changing explores the process of sorting through jumbled piles of memories, individually coloured by nostalgia, regret, and mental illness. Together, these pieces make up the whole of the self. These works exist in a space of unreality, floating in between real-life events and deep feelings, impossibly striving to pause a reality where stillness is an illusion. Everything is Constantly Changing is a series of digital illustrations that explore the connection between place, memory, and identity. Focusing on the strained relationship between reality and memory, the illustrations feature both real and imagined space. The pieces utilize text and line illustration in a comic collage style format to examine emotional memories.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Robin Richardson-Dupuis is a Canadian illustrator and graphic designer. Robin spent their childhood in the desert around Austin, Texas, and moved to Ottawa as a teenager. They recently relocated to Kjipuktuk (Halifax) to pursue a Bachelor of Design at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD). Robin’s work explores the connection between place, identity, and memory through their point of view as a queer white settler on Indigenous land. They sustain both a personal art practice focused on self-expression through illustration and printmaking, and a freelance graphic design practice centred on supporting community through collaborative design projects.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My practice is steeped in the utility of symbolism— a theme that carries over to my work as an illustrator. As a person who has struggled with the distorting effects of mental illness, and as a queer femme in a heteronormative world, I use illustration as a way of grounding myself. As an illustrator, I create gentle spaces to investigate strong emotions, while developing a personal language of symbols. Flora and fauna, houses, witch hands, and doorways work together to create a surreal facsimile of a place in time, one in which I hope viewers are able to immerse themselves, and link these symbols to their own experience.

ONLINE ARTIST WALKTHROUGH

Join Robin Richardson-Dupuis and Possible Worlds on Sunday, February 21 from 5:45-6:00 PM EST for an online walkthrough of Robin’s show via Possible Worlds’ Instagram.

ARTIST-LED WORKSHOP

Save the date: Join Robin Richardson-Dupuis and Possible Worlds on Thursday, March 4 from 6:00-8:00 PM EST for an online artist-led workshop on Expressive Typography via Zoom. Register here.

> ARTIST WEBSITE
> ARTIST INSTAGRAM

We would like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

RECONSTRUCTING SELVES

EXHIBITION: Reconstructing Selves // Marisa Gallemit, Don Kwan and Gabriela Warrior Renaud

DATES: Friday, May 24 to Sunday July 28, 2019

OPENING: Friday, May 24, 2019, 7:00-10:00 PM // Presented to coincide with Asian Heritage Month (May), Filipino Heritage Month (June) and the Chinatown Asian Night Market (July 26-28, 2019). Entry is free.

CURATOR: Possible Worlds Co-Director Melanie Yugo

LOCATION: Possible Worlds (708G Somerset Street West). We acknowledge that Possible Worlds is located on unceded Algonquin territory.

PHYSICAL ACCESSIBILITY: This exhibition takes place on the second-floor of a plaza and is only accessible by stairs (unfortunately there is no ramp or elevator). Accessible washrooms are available down the street in the 24-hour Petro Canada.

ARTIST TALK: June 12, 2019, 7-9 PM at Shanghai Restaurant (651 Somerset Street West). Register in advance here.

DESCRIPTION

Possible Worlds is pleased to present our next exhibition to coincide with Asian Heritage Month (May), Filipino Heritage Month (June) and the Chinatown Asian Night Market (July 26-28, 2019).

In Reconstructing Selves, visual artists Marisa Gallemit and Donald Kwan and documentary filmmaker Gabriela Warrior Renaud, Ottawa-Gatineau artists of Asian descent, explore the complex issues and creative possibilities that flow from one’s cultural identity: What is the relationship between place and belonging, between diasporas and memory? What is the impact of exclusionary practices on the preservation and creation of our cultures? How do we centre our intersectional experiences within the dominant culture?

Through print, video and installation work, and Inspired by their Filipinx, Chinese and South Indian heritage respectively, the artists aim to deepen their understanding and document their own histories, while simultaneously taking an active role in reshaping their narratives and identities, now and for the future.

In her installation NANDITO KAMI (WE ARE HERE), Gallemit addresses language loss, cultural adaptation and colonialism in the Philippines, as part of her ongoing investigation of the endangered Filipino written script, Baybayin. Combining Google Drawings and handcut Roman alphabet, she undertakes the laborious reconfiguration of this pre-Hispanic, non-English written technology. In doing so, Gallemit aims to subvert and invert the invisibility of the Filipinx diaspora within dominant culture, and to portray Filipinx culture as it existed before the imprints of Spanish colonizers. 

Kwan’s installation, SELF PORTRAIT / BABY QUILT, reflects on the assimilation and exclusionary experiences of early Chinese newcomers, specifically Kwan’s own family, to Canada. Piecing together a variety of Chinese-Canadian restaurant takeout menus from the Ottawa-Gatineau region, photocopy prints and paper ephemera, Kwan weaves intimate stories and personal memories of food, family and community within the context of defining moments in Canadian history, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Imposed Head Tax and both World Wars.

In the sound and video installation, HYPHEN, Warrior Renaud examines the fluid nature of mixed identity and the impact of the environment on our sense of self. Using an assemblage of sound clips, film footage and photographs from her titular documentary, viewers are invited into Renaud’s stream of consciousness as she drives coast to coast over a period of 3 months, reflecting on the ambition of the Canadian multiculturalism project, the grandiosity of Canadian landscapes, and the voices of interviews with 22 mixed race people on the complexity of issues surrounding mixed identity.

BIOGRAPHIES

Marisa​ ​Gallemit

Marisa​ ​Gallemit​ ​is​ ​an​ ​Ottawa​-based​ ​visual​ ​artist​ ​whose​ ​practice​ ​spans​ ​sculpture, assemblage​,  site-​specific​ ​installation, storytelling and arts advocacy.​ ​After​ ​studying​ ​film​ ​at​ ​Carleton​  ​University (Ottawa)​ ​and​ ​the​ ​New​ ​York​ ​Film​ ​Academy​ ​(NYC),​ ​​ her​ ​focus​ ​shifted​ ​to​  three​-dimensional​ ​works,​ ​concentrating​ ​on​ ​organic​ ​forms​ ​and​ ​textures​, using repurposed​  ​materials,​ ​and focusing on ​tactile monuments​ ​to​ ​our​ ​collective​ ​and​ ​subtle​ ​human experiences.   

Motivated​ ​by​ ​the​ ​concept​ ​that​ ​every​ ​object​ ​carries​ ​its​ ​own​ ​history​ ​and​ ​energy,​ ​Gallemit  considers the selection​ ​process​ ​of​ ​materials​ ​as​ ​paramount.​ ​Found​ ​objects​ ​and​ ​discarded  artifacts​ ​are​ ​favoured​ ​as​ ​much​ ​for​ ​their​ ​visual​ ​markings​ ​of​ ​time​ ​and​ ​wear​ ​as​ ​for​ ​their  emblematic​ ​significance --either​ ​as​ ​souvenirs​ ​from​ ​a​ ​particular​ ​time​ ​period​ ​or​ ​as fossils​ ​of​ ​a​  ​lived, emotionally-​charged​ ​experience. Old things tell stories.   

Gallemit​ ​manipulates,​ ​deconstructs​ ​and​ ​distorts​ ​objects​ ​into sculptural​ ​compositions​ ​which​  ​mimic​ ​the​ ​corporeal​ ​and​ ​the​ ​natural, inviting haptic interaction.​ ​Informed by womanhood,  motherhood and third-culture shock, she explores​ ​the​ ​odyssey​ ​of​ ​human​ ​emotion​, identity  and heritage. The​ ​goal​ ​of​ ​each reconciled​ ​assemblage​ ​is​ ​to​ ​lean deeply into Buckminster Fuller’s query: “Now, how do we make this spaceship work?”

Since first showing work at a community group show in 2009, Gallemit has been fortunate to participate in storytelling and performative works, design installations for music and art festivals, and has facilitated art-making workshops, curated art programs for several Ottawa non-gallery venues, and produced a large-scale public art installation for the City of Mississauga​.  

Website: http://marisagallemit.com

Don Kwan

Don Kwan is an interdisciplinary artist currently living in the Ottawa Valley. His artwork often examines identity, memory, how cultures come to assume the values, behaviours, and “pop culture” beliefs of other groups, as well as the conversion of culture e.g. how: food is adapted from one culture to another. Using mixed media, found objects and sourced personal and historical images of his family, his work draws inspiration from his family’s earliest tangible links to Canada, such as living through moments of Canadian history such as the Chinese Immigration Act, between 1885 -1923, known today as the Chinese Exclusion Act; the imposed Head Tax; WWI; WWII; and his experiences since 1971 in operating Shanghai Restaurant, a family-owned Chinese-Canadian restaurant in Ottawa’s Chinatown.

Gabriela Warrior Renaud

Gabriela Warrior Renaud is a documentary filmmaker and activist for social and climate justice. She continues her family’s legacy of storytelling, encouraging us to reconnect to our history, each other and the earth. As a queer, mixed person of colour, Gabriela explores topics that are deeply personal, in the hopes of humanizing and shedding light on issues that continue to affect many of us and yet still feel overwhelmingly pushed in the dark. Her current documentary project Hyphen was born out her own desire to feel whole within a fragmented identity. Building a narrative around the mixed experience, Gabriela was able to find the grounding she was seeking, and is humbly reclaiming her South Indian heritage. Her work has been shown, among others, at the Mirror Mountain Film Festival in Ottawa and the World Film Festival in Montreal, where she won Best Local Film and Best Experimental Film, respectively. She is an active member of the artistic community in Ottawa, working to make our spaces diverse and sustainable.

Website: www.warriorrenaud.com

PW EMERGING ARTIST SERIES

EXHIBITION: Fleeting // Printed Works by Anna Graves (Ottawa/Halifax)

DATES: Friday, April 5 to Sunday, May 5, 2019

OPENING: Friday, April 5, 2019, 7:00-9:00 PM

A special Possible Worlds Risograph artist edition featuring the artist’s work will be available for purchase.

Entry is free. This exhibition takes place on the second-floor of a plaza and is only physically accessible by stairs (unfortunately there is no ramp or elevator). On behalf of the architects of the past who, by these design oversights, have left out many people, we apologize. Accessible washrooms are available down the street in 24-hour Petro Canada.

Possible Worlds is pleased to present our second exhibition of 2019, part of a series highlighting Ottawa-Gatineau-based or born emerging graphic artists.

SHOW DESCRIPTION

In this body of printed work, emerging artist Anna Graves examines relationships between land use and notions of belonging. These large-scale lithograph and silkscreened prints feature urban and natural settings around Mi’kma’ki/Nova Scotia that are experiencing gentrification and shifting industries. With an interest in infrastructure and decay, Graves explores the difficult history of colonialism in this region.

ARTIST STATEMENT

On a daily basis, we encounter traces of human interaction with our surroundings. From the organic formation of footpaths to the effects of region-dependent industry, the Earth is shaped by our touch. Likewise, people are products of their environments.

Much of my work is landscape or architecturally based. In preparing my large-scale prints, I utilize a catalogue of sketches and photographs. I use drawing as a tool to reinterpret memories and thus relationships with spaces.

BIOGRAPHY

Anna Graves is an emerging artist based in Ottawa. She is a recent graduate of the BFA program at NSCAD University in Halifax. Having grown up in Ottawa, Graves is interested in the connections between nationalism and tourism, and their subsequent environmental impacts. She investigates national narratives used to construct a sense of identity.

Graves has participated in group exhibitions and portfolio exchanges nationally and internationally. In 2018, she attended the Tamarind Institute’s Summer Lithography Workshop. Through the NSCAD Community Studio Residency program, she was an artist in residence at the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design in Fall 2018.

Website: https://www.annagraves.ca

EXHIBITION: The Purpose is to Feel Deeply // Works by Kimberly Edgar (Toronto/Dawson City/Ottawa)

DATES: Friday, March 8 to Sunday, March 31, 2019

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, March 8, 2019, 7:00-10:00 PM // Part of Possible Worlds 4-Year Anniversary Party

CURATOR: PW Co-Director Melanie Yugo

New illustrations and zines by Kimberly and a special PW artist edition featuring their work will be available for purchase.

Entry is free. This exhibition takes place on the second-floor of a plaza and is only accessible by stairs (unfortunately there is no ramp or elevator).

Possible Worlds is pleased to present our first exhibition of 2019, part of a series highlighting Ottawa-Gatineau based or born emerging graphic artists.

CURATORIAL STATEMENT

In The Purpose is to Feel Deeply, interdisciplinary artist and illustrator Kimberly Edgar explores their personal experiences with depression, structural barriers and self-care within an increasingly volatile and violent society.

Edgar’s watercolour illustrations reveal a modern-day Garden of Eden, where paradise is in jeopardy and where life is restrained, passive and paralyzed. Evocative of Edvard Munch’s The Scream, monocoloured human bodies lie in vulnerable positions within earthly contexts, stripped down to their essence, unclothed or shirtless. They seek refuge yet are aware that predators lurk by and that unpredictable forces, from nature to nightmares, cannot be tamed or altered.

Edgar integrates direct commentary, a reflection of their comic arts practice, to pose statements to the audience. In doing so, they invite viewers to join them in an exploration of the human condition in contemporary life.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My work revolves around confronting and working through difficult feelings, exploring my emotions publicly. It becomes a site for me to process the experiences that I have no words for. My body of work has therefore consisted of a lot of intuitive processes that I use to try and find access to deeper (sometimes uncomfortable) truths.

Sometimes depression is a chemical imbalance, and sometimes it is a reasonable response to a violent reality. What happens when, in our individualistic western society, the onus of mental health is placed on the individual, on self care, as opposed to a structural change? How do I function in a system that wants me to fix myself when it is the system itself, not me, that is broken? This work is presented as an intuitive response to these questions and the stresses of living in the chaos that is contemporary life.

BIOGRAPHY

Kimberly Edgar is an interdisciplinary artist who currently works primarily in illustration, comics, and drawing. After graduating from art school at the Ottawa School of Art, Kim moved to the Yukon for almost four years to pursue sculpture and performance art, then to Toronto. It was in Toronto where Kimberly started making comics and illustration more seriously, and after starting a small art business, Edgar has finally found a practice and routine suited to their chronically ill body. Between teaching art, selling designed goods and prints, and taking on commissions, and writing comic books, Kimberly is now constantly working.

Website: www.kimberlyedgar.com

Instagram: @deadbirdparty

PW EMERGING ARTIST SERIES: Digital Epoch

EXHIBITION: Digital Epoch // New Works by Aidan O’Keeffe (Ottawa, CA)

DATES: Friday September 21 to Wednesday October 17, 2018 (extended due to power outage/weather conditions on opening weekend)

OPENING RECEPTION: Wednesday October 3, 2018, 6-9 PM (rescheduled from September 21 due to power outage/weather conditions on opening weekend), free admission, welcome to all

CURATED BY: Laura Pollard and Melanie Yugo

EDITIONS: Limited editions of the the artist’s digital works will be available for purchase.

SHOW DESCRIPTION

Possible Worlds is pleased to present our first exhibition of this fall season, part of a series highlighting Ottawa-Gatineau based emerging graphic artists.

In Digital Epoch, the first solo show of his work, emerging artist Aidan O’Keeffe reflects on the spectrum of experiences we have with technology and the internet. Through his digital body of colourful and abstract artwork, O’Keeffe's pieces grapple with a society that praises technology even while it causes us to feel anxious and alone in our daily lives.

Using his computer, a tablet and readily-available software or apps as his canvas, and a mouse, stylus or fingertip as his brush, O’Keeffe moves back and forth between carefully applied digital lines and shapes to more gestural strokes in the style of action painting to experiments with colour gradients. In doing so, O’Keeffe tries to express the contemporary paradox of feeling lonely and interconnected at the same time, drawing from his own emotions, as well as the interactions with and experiences of technology that both he and others have had.

Throughout his own life O’Keeffe has struggled with technology addiction, often finding it hard to find a balance between usefulness and excess, and his participation in “digital life” and “real life.”

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Aidan O'Keeffe (b. 1997) is an Ottawa-based, self-taught artist creating digital art, paintings and mixed media works. He is currently completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Ottawa. He finds inspiration in graphic design, the city, and the wide range of human emotions we all encounter in our own journeys. In his work, he translates his and others’ experiences with contemporary life into abstracted images, driven by his interest in the ways lines, shapes, and colour interact.

PRINT CULTURE

EXHIBITION: Print Culture
DATES: May 31 to July 1, 2018
OPENING/VERNISSAGE: Ottawa Art Gallery: May 31, 2018 and Possible Worlds: June 22, 2018, free admission, welcome to all
CURATED BY: Melanie Yugo (Possible Worlds) and Stephanie Germano (Ottawa Art Gallery)

This exhibition highlights an emerging print scene that is developing in Ottawa-Gatineau. The printed image remains prevalent in contemporary culture; in an increasingly digital era, these regional artists choose to integrate analog printmaking techniques into their image-making practice. The selected artworks emphasize the varied forms of printmaking used by these artists, such as silk screening, woodcut and etching, as well as the tools and processes they use in the production and design of their work.

This exhibition is collaboration between Possible Worlds (708G Somerset St W) and the Ottawa Art Gallery. Works will be shown at both locations and we encourage the public to visit both sites to experience the whole of the exhibition. In line with the medium’s history of accessibility and social engagement, a series of print workshops will be hosted during the length of the exhibition.

ARTISTS
Stéphanie St-Jean Aubre, Melissa Blackman, Chayle Cook, Stephen Frew, Deidre Hierlihy, Robert Hinchley, Mana Rouholamini, Anne Wanda Tessier and Joyce Westrop.. 

IMAGE CREDIT
Mana Rouholaimini

RUB

EXHIBITION: Rub // Drawings by Brie Moreno (London, UK / Ottawa, CA)
DATES: May 4 to 26, 2018
OPENING/VERNISSAGE: May 4, 2018, 7-9 PM, free admission, welcome to all
CURATED BY: Melanie Yugo (Possible Worlds Co-Director)

ARTIST TALK: Brie Moreno and and Joe Kessler (Breakdown Press, London, UK), May 17, 7-9 PM, Possible Worlds

NEW ARTIST EDITION

We are pleased to debut on the occasion of the show a special new artist edition by Brie Moreno. Produced by Possible Worlds in an edition of 25, handsilkscreened in-house and available for purchase.

Possible Worlds is pleased to host Rub, the first solo exhibition of Ottawa-born, London based illustrator Brie Moreno. 

In Rub, vignettes of strong, leading female figures in psychedelic and mutated otherworlds command the page. Accompanied by human or animal sidekicks, these “superheroines” appear at ease in their environments, from conversing with colourful pterygota, to scaling ladders and tall trees wearing used nylons and Issey Miyake Pleats Please. The characters are playful, yet at the same time exude poise, confidence and power. 

Working in her bedroom getaway, Moreno's illustrations are made with felt tip marker on newsprint, an homage to analog techniques and folk art. Emphasizing the temporality or non-existence of these worlds, the drawings appear to warp and crinkle, and with time will fade away.

Rub showcases Moreno's drawings in her latest zine of the same name, soon to be released by Zurich-based independent publishing house, Nieves. 

ARTIST STATEMENT

She rubbed out all of her mistakes.
She’s rubbing her drowsy lids, lathered in royal blue.
He’s rubbing his Bichon Frise behind the ears.
Their bodies rubbed and rubbed and rubbed.
Her Miu Mius rubbed her ankles red and raw. 

Used nylons, archive Issey Miyake Pleats Please, juicy grapes and their vines, poise, anxiety, and colourful pterygotas are just some of the ingredients found in many of the recipes produced in my work. Each illustration is made with felt tip on newsprint, as to allude to nostalgia. The drawings warp and crinkle and with time will fade away… the excitement of the implications of time. One can observe vignettes of individuals bursting like a mudpot driven by nerves and zeal. Surrounded in lush patterns and green landscapes, the individuals hold their head high and dazzle through a tense grin, because why not?

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Brie Moreno (b. 1994) grew up in Ottawa and currently lives in London, England. Her work has been exhibited at Printed Matter in New York as well as at the Galerie du Jour - agnès b in Paris. She has worked with Art Gallery of Ontario, Bloomberg Businessweek, Novembre Magazine, Lagon Revue, Breakdown Press and Nieves Books. 

Website: www.briemoreno.com / Instagram: @boogerbrie

REALMS II

EXHIBITION X BOOK LAUNCH: Realms II
DATES: March 16 to April 29, 2018
OPENING/VERNISSAGE: March 16, 2018, 7-10 PM, free admission, welcome to all
CURATED BY: Guest curator Jon Vaughn (Saskatoon, Canada)

ARTISTS

Aisha Franz (Germany)
Emmanuelle Pidoux (France)
Francois Van Damme (Belgium)
Frederic Fleury (France) 
Jon Chandler (USA) 
Jon Vaughn (Canada) 
Juli Majer (Canada) 
Kinya Hanada (Japan) 
Lasse Wandschneider (Germany)
Lomé Lu (France) 
Loic Doussin (France) 
Marc Hennes (Germany)
Nicolas Nadé (France) 
Patrick Kyle (Canada) 
Pia-Mélissa Laroche (France)
Ruo Han Wang (Germany)
Sretan Bor (Croatia) 
Tetsunori Tawaraya (Japan) 
Tim Romanowsky (Germany)
Tristan Pernet (France) 
Tylor Macmillon (Canada)
Vincent Fritz (Germany)
Zigendemonic (Ukraine/Germany) 

NEW ARTIST EDITION

We are also pleased to debut on the occasion of the show a special new artist edition by curator Jon Vaughn and participating artist Patrick Kyle (Toronto, Canada). Produced by Possible Worlds in an edition of 60 and available for purchase, this Risograph print is the result of a drawing collaboration between Vaughn and Kyle created via email correspondence.

OPENING NIGHT

Date: Friday, March 16, 2018, 7- 10 PM
Live music set by Jared Epp
Launch of Realms II anthology, available for purchase in shop and online
Free admission and welcome to all

ABOUT REALMS II

Realms II is a project that brings together 100 artists across the pages of a book and a travelling exhibition of works. It shines a light on the work of emerging creative talent in contemporary print, illustration, digital drawing and comic arts from across the globe. Curated by Canadian visual and music artist Jon Vaughn, the first stop of this travelling exhibition will be at Possible Worlds.

For its premiere in Ottawa, Realms II will feature prints by 23 emerging artists from eight countries who are consistently producing fresh and engaging work. Each artist was invited by the curator to create pieces that reflect or comment on imaginative, personal or intimate universes. These spaces are fictional, abstract or representational and tend to define them as individuals or what they call ‘home’. The curator's inspiration for exploring this area came from an interest both in science fiction and fantasy art, as well as to focus on the contexts that artists create, rather than the characters and subjects which tend to dominate them. 

While drawing is often the trajectory for the works, the artists express themselves in a multitude of ways using a diverse range of media: risograph, silkscreen and ink, or by digital methods. Sometimes fragments form the basis of the pieces in an abstract collage, while other artists dissect and reassemble parts of drawings to make challenging montages. Abstraction, cartooning and illustration share equal space in the Realms II book and exhibition.  

Possible Worlds will also play host to the launch of the Realms II anthology, a companion publication which features the illustrative work of the 100+ artists who have contributed to this project.

This exhibition marks the first showing of work by each participating artist in Ottawa or in Canada.

CURATORIAL STATEMENT

I believe the imagination has a power of invention that can rigorously challenge notions of knowledge and perception. Artists experience massively overpowering and deeply internal microscopic visions that can be like an axis crossing from the largest to smallest things. Powered by the imagination, these visions can transcend our biological limitations and show us worlds beyond our visual spectrum, as well as provide permutations and combinations of all worlds in numerous ways. Realms II seeks to open a space for those visions, and champions artists whose visionary gifts are fearless, obsessive and unapologetically unique. 

CURATOR BIOGRAPHY

Jon Vaughn was born in Saskatoon and holds a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Saskatchewan in Art History. In addition to visual art, he is also involved in a range of other creative pursuits including curation, design, screen-printing, music performance and production, and publishing. A noted electronic musician, Vaughn’s collage style often has the precision and range of digital art while also maintaining a hand-made quality. His work has been exhibited, performed, and distributed locally (AKA artist-run 2014, BAM 2015, Art Placement 2015), nationally (Regina, Vancouver, Montreal, Winnipeg), and internationally (England, France, Italy, Belgium, Argentina, Bulgaria, Germany, the United States). Vaughn is editor-in-chief at Ecstasy Editions.

ABOUT THE REALMS PROJECT

The first Realms exhibition launched in 2010 in Saskatoon, Canada, and was guest curator Jon Vaughn's major undertaking as a curator of visual art. In 2017, he invited no less than 100 artists from around the world to create work that reflected their imaginative, personal or intimate universes. Realms II is a culmination of this invitation, a collection of hundreds of prints, larger originals and smaller drawings by members of the Canadian and international independent graphic arts community. The Realms II project was first exhibited at Gordon Snelgrove Gallery in Saskatoon in January 2018. Vaughn is currently planning a few variations of the Realms II exhibition, expanding across Canada and beyond.

Object // Project: Art + Music Fair

When: Friday, December 15 to Sunday, December 24, 2017
Where: Possible Worlds (708G Somerset Street West, Ottawa)
Opening Night: Friday, December 15 from 7-10 PM.
Exhibition: Runs until January 21, 2018

Opening Hours: During the fair, Possible Worlds will be open:
Saturday and Sundays 12-5 PM; Wednesdays to Fridays 6-9 PM; Christmas Eve 11-3 PM

Presented by Possible Worlds x Spins & Needles, Object // Project is a micro art and music fair, combining an exhibition, shop, music performances, and workshops.

This year-end event champions the work of progressive, emerging and diverse artists who are contributing to a renewed graphic and sound aesthetic in the city.  For lovers of all that is DIY, independently created and self-published.

On our gallery walls and in shop, find a curated selection of unique pieces for sale, installed for the event: art prints, illustrations, collage, photography, ceramics, zines, artist books, t-shirts, pins, cassettes and records. Music performances on opening night and as part of our Not Normal series will feature electronic and experimental live sets. Artist-run graphic art and print workshops will take place on weekends.

Come through and discover new objects, projects and performances that play with text, image and sound. Pick up some new and affordable art work and music for your own collection or as holiday gifts. 

// SCHEDULE // 

Friday December 15
Opening Night
Exhibition opens, new window install + holiday treats
New works exhibited by Ottawa-Gatineau artists x designers
Live music performance by Young Truck

Holiday Jams x Workshops
Future State: Poster + Zine Jam (PWYC): Saturday December 16
Geometric Star Lantern Jam (PWYC): Sunday December 17
Holiday Cards Print Workshop ($30): Wednesday December 20

Thursday December 21
Live music performances, Not Normal Music Series
Black Squirrel Books
Sheehan Jordan (OTT) + Au Vol (OTT) + Golden Eyes (OTT)

PW Opening Hours
During the fair, Possible Worlds will be open:
Saturday and Sundays 12-5 PM; Wednesdays to Fridays 6-9 PM;
Christmas Eve 11-3 PM

Exhibition runs until January 21, 2018.

// PARTICIPATING EXHIBITING ARTISTS //

Rémi Allen
Zara Ansar
Joi Arcand
Corrine Blouin
Danni-Rae Mistaken Chief
Kristina Corre
Sarah Dobbin
Rachel Gray
Claudia Gutierrez
Olivia Johnston
Abigail Kashul
Rachel Lin
Mique Michelle
Aidan O’Keefe
Emmanuel Okot
Lindsay Naish
Natasha Place
Robin Richardson-Dupuis
Stéphanie St-Jean Aubre
Amy Thompson
Piotr Pawlowski
Tafui
Guillermo Trejo

// PW WINDOW INSTALLATION // 

Electric Cheer Generator by Andrew O'Malley

// PARTICIPATING MUSIC PERFORMERS // 

Young Truck
Sheehan Jordan (loops, sloppy beats & slow burns)
Au Vol  (ambient, drone, experimentation)
Golden Eyes (beats, experimental tech)
With visuals by VJ Cinetik 

// WORKSHOPS // 
Future State Poster + Zine Jam (PWYC): Dec. 16
Geometric Star Lantern Jam (PWYC): Dec. 17
Handsilkscreened Holiday Cards ($30): Dec. 20
Register here: http://possibleworldsshop.com/workshops

Curated by Possible Worlds Co-Directors Melanie Yugo + Jason Pelletier

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Questions? Send us an e-mail at info@possibleworldsshop.com.

We would like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

What: Reclaiming the Screen: Group Exhibition of Silkscreened Works
When: November 24 to December 10, 2017
Where: Possible Worlds (708G Somerset St. W., Chinatown, Ottawa)
Opening Night: Friday, November 24, 2017, 7-10 PM, free and open to all.

To highlight 10+ years of our silkscreening education program and championing printed matter in Ottawa, Possible Worlds and Spins & Needles present Reclaiming the Screen from November 24 to December 10. 

Reclaiming the Screen is a group exhibition featuring works by selected Ottawa artists, illustrators, graphic designers, textile designers, photographers and VJs interpreted through the process of silkscreening. Each artist has participated in one of our silkscreening workshops over the last 10 years. Original prints and apparel by participating artists will be available for purchase.

Opening night: Friday, November 24, 2017 with beats by DJ Jason Skilz, artists in attendance + hands-on mini-silkscreening station.

More information about our silkscreening workshops, education programs, in-house publishing and graphic art services will be available during the exhibition. Artists, designers and other creatives are encouraged to get in touch to discuss projects.

Featuring the work of:
Tiffany April
Diane Bond
Hannah Dykes
Gary Franks
SAM
Chidima Nzakamulilo
Christos Panteiras
Piotr Pawlowski
Robin Richardson-Dupuis
Mana Rouholamini
Joyce Westrop

Organized/curated by Spins & Needles/Possible Worlds Co-Director + print educator Melanie Yugo

We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the Ontario Arts Council, as well as all those who have supported/participated in our silkscreening workshops over the last 10 years.

The first exhibition this fall at Possible Worlds features the illustration work of Toronto-based artist Justine Wong ジャスティン　ウォング

※日本語は下です。/ Japanese translation follows.

EXHIBITION: No Hard Feelings | Illustrations by Justine Wong (Toronto)
DATES: September 16 to October 4, 2017 (EXTENDED UNTIL OCTOBER 18)
OPENING/VERNISSAGE: Saturday, September 16, 12-5 PM (Part of PW's September Art x Music Weekend), free admission, welcome to all
MEMBERS AND FRIENDS NIGHT PREVIEW: Friday, September 15, 7-9 PM
CURATED BY: Melanie Yugo, PW Co-Director

No Hard Feelings is Justine Wong's love letter to Japan's seaside. Inspired by her time along the coasts of Japan, the work softly speaks in the language of the sea and comes into form with the land. Each landscape unfolds with the transitional conversations between the two elements, balancing and breaking onto each other to create safe spaces to house all that we feel.

"No Hard Feelings"
とは作家の日本の海沿いに向けて思いを込めたラブレター。日本の海岸で過ごした時間にインスピレーションをうけた作品は、海の言葉で優しく語りかけ、しだいに陸と一体になっていくかのよう。海と陸が調和し合い、ぶつかり合いながら、次第に私たちが感じること全てを包み込む穏やかな場を創り出すうつろいを表しています。

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Justine Wong, is a full-time freelance illustrator based in Toronto and sometimes Tokyo. She holds a Bachelor of Design, Illustration & Graphic Design from OCAD University. Her selected clients include: Wieden & Kennedy, On She Goes, Lucky Peach, The Walrus, Aeon Japan Ltd.Co, Literary Review of Canada, Glow, Ace Camps, Abokichi, Today's Parent, Canadian Living, That's Shanghai!, Kyoto Journal, House & Home, Hong Kong Food Crawlers, Bento Box, Uncle Tetsu.

She is the creator of the project '21 Days in Japan: An Illustrative Study on Japanese Cuisine', consisting of 100 paintings of her meals throughout Japan. She is also a dedicated member of Lunchroom, a creative collective and co-working space based in Toronto where members practice and learn new ways to rebuild the way we cook and eat together.

For more of the artist's works, head here.

For sales or inquiries, contact at info@possibleworldsshop.com

We would like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

EXHIBITION: Desposorio | Images by Pedro Isztin
DATES: April 28 to June 4, 2017 (EXTENDED)
OPENING/VERNISSAGE: April 28, 7-10 PM, artist in attendance
CURATED BY: Melanie Yugo, Possible Worlds Co-Director
Limited edition prints published by Possible Worlds available for purchase throughout the duration of the show. For sales or inquiries, contact at info@possibleworldsshop.com

"I met my grandmother Desposorio on a visit to Colombia with my mother and siblings when I was four years old. Desposorio played the tiple guitar, typical of Colombia, and sang in her younger days. 'The way we are connected right now will change, we won't be united like this forever.' I remember that Desposorio's words felt mysterious and sad.
Years later I told my mother about the memory I had of my grandmother’s reaction at the airport as we were leaving, how she had been crying, and held her hand to cover some of her face in sadness, as if she had known it be would be the last time she would see us. When I remember my grandmother I know she was the one who taught me the connection between change and death."

Possible Worlds presents the works of photographer Pedro Isztin (Ottawa) in Desposorio, a series of images taken from around the world exploring themes of mystery, transformation and death.

Travelling through Peru, Mexico, Indonesia, Hungary, India, Tanzania, and Cuba, Isztin used a Holga plastic lens camera to capture experiences that felt like dreams, or memories of dreams, and places never to be returned to again. In addition to the Holga's quality of imperfections and randomness, Isztin challenged himself to spend more time absorbing and reflecting on the life around him by placing limitations on the amount of film he brought and the number of photographs he took of the people and places encountered. He often did not know the results of his efforts until the film was developed at home.

For the show, Isztin's photos have been further altered through the Risograph printing machine as a tool to move his photography practice from traditional to transformative. By experimenting with the Risograph, he both highlights and simplifies the images in order to draw out and distill the symbolism in them, pairing red as a metaphor for the great life force, and blue to represent the spiritual, mysterious transformation, ethereal, liminal space of death.  
 

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Choosing subjects from around the world, Isztin’s work portrays a sympathetic connection to nature and humanity. His intimate portraits reveal landscapes with “spirit” and “human nature that is, wherever you may find it, by definition universal.”*

Pedro’s photographs reflect the richness of his diverse heritage. Born in 1964 to a Colombian mother and Hungarian father, Isztin lives in Ottawa, Canada. His recent work explores monolithic structures, (in the series Remains), inner life and outer world, (the installation Sami), the subtlety of a human gesture, (Nuance), and studies of land and humankind’s influence on nature (in The River, Study of Structure and Form, and The Glade).

The River debuted at Ottawa’s City Hall Gallery, in the Fall of 2012 in conjunction with Ottawa’s Photography Festival X and Nuit Blanche. In 2017, the book “The River” will be released, showcasing the series in it’s entirety.

Pedro has received various awards to support the creation of his projects, including an Ontario Arts Council Award, 2006, and a Canada Council For the Arts: Photography Project Grant, 1999. Isztin’s work has been exhibited internationally and featured in photography books, Full of Grace, 2006, New York, and magazines such as Contact Sheet, #148, 2008, Syracuse, NY, Private, #37, 2007, Italy, and Ottawa’s Guerilla, #17, Vol 5, 2008. His work is represented by Wallack Galleries and is also in the permanent collection of the Canada Council Art Bank and The City of Ottawa’s Fine Art collection.

*  Line Dezainde, Pedro Isztin: L’insatiable quête du destin, trans. Lisa Poushinsky, Voir.ca, #21, Décembre 2006. “…où qu’il soit, la nature humaine étant par définition universelle.”

For more of the artist's works, head here.

We would like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

EXHIBITION: Early Vacation | Works by Emmanuel Okot
DATES: March 17 - April 23, 2017 (EXTENDED)
OPENING/VERNISSAGE: March 17, 7-10 PM, artist in attendance
INSTAGRAM: @possworldsshop | @emmanuelokot
For sales or inquiries, contact at info@possibleworldsshop.com

Possible Worlds presents the visual works of emerging artist Emmanuel Okot (Ottawa) in his first solo show.

In Early Vacation, self-taught artist Okot frames his work as an “experimental get-away”, wherein he explores different modes of visual expression through painting and mixed media. Drawing on personal feelings, emotions and thoughts and influenced by street art culture, Okot creates abstract, graphic pieces, reminiscent of graffiti walls layered in a dreamlike state. In producing works that are “everything and nothing”, Okot asks the audience to take respite to reflect on the internal and external aspects of their everyday lives.

*Curatorial text by Possible Worlds Co-Director, Melanie Yugo

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Okot is an Ottawa-based, self-taught artist working with mixed media. He is influenced by graffiti/street art culture, nature, and the subconscious mind. 

For more of the artist's works, head here.

We would like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

FLY SEAGULL FLY | NEW PICTURES FROM THE EMERGING SHY BABE OF PLANT WORLD (MONTREAL)

DATES: Thursday, December 15, 2016 – Wednesday, January 11, 2017
OPENING/VERNISSAGE: Thursday, December 15, 2016, 7:00-10:00 PM
WEBSITE: possibleworldsshop.com
INSTAGRAM: @possworldsshop | @tindrums
For inquiries, contact

Possible Worlds presents you with Fly Seagull Fly, an installation featuring new silkscreen works on paper and paintings from the emerging shy babe of Plant World, JG.

In this exhibition, JG explores their artistic practice as an expression of inconsistencies, learnings, failures and loose ends. At the same time, they highlight the restraints of normative structures within the gallery setting and everyday life.

Through a visual adaptation of mutant disco, JG produces pictorial situations that are both relatable and subversive, much like the left-field music movement’s roots in disco, punk and pop. Imagery that is commonplace (such as plants, windows and the human body) have been hand printed and produced in eccentric, rhythmic actions, evoking a sense of visceral shifts within the static white walls of the “gallery”. 

More broadly, JG looks at how we navigate the regulated spaces in which we are immersed, how they may be disassembled to create sub-cultural/queer/experimental structures, and how we might celebrate the strange, ambiguous beauty that develops within/between these spaces and/or on the fringes.

*Curatorial text by Possible Worlds Co-Director, Melanie Yugo

Artist Edition and Performance
Special to the exhibition, Possible Worlds & JG will also be releasing an artist edition of spatial poetry and drawings titled "FLY SEAGULL FLY". The opening of the installation will also be accompanied by an experimental ' book on tape ' performance.

BIOGRAPHY

JG is a Montréal based, queer/non-binary visual artist, writer and printmaker whose process has been formed through the time lapse of self-directed and non-institutionalized practice. Their working approach began in 2011, in the natural light of a basic sun-room printmaking studio in Guelph, ON. and has since been actively leaning into the forms of small press book art and experimental design for ephemera and printed matter. 

Their work reflects an obsessive need to participate in the ideological lineage of fringe and outsider art making. Drawing from a well of internal narratives and personal fantasy,  imagery is arranged to present the viewer with hyper aesthetic combinations of actual forms with material impersonations of nature, both concrete and psychological. Through the use of freely associating subject matter, attention to detail becomes a revision of what a form becomes in spatial formlessness, and how our perception of what is actual expands as we are being presented with inaccurate pictorial information on the viewing plane. 

JG's work has been published by Carousel, Swimmer's Group (Toronto) and Forge Art magazine (New York). Contributions include mural painting with En Masse (Montreal) and several installations as well as ongoing poster material for Kazoo! (Guelph). 

Communal Aesthetics | Works by Ne Rougissez Pas! (France)

DATES: Friday, November 25 – Sunday, December 11, 2016 (EXTENDED)
OPENING/VERNISSAGE: Friday, November 25, 2016, 7:00-10:00 PM
WEBSITE: possibleworldsshop.com | galerie.uqo.ca | www.nerougissezpas.fr
INSTAGRAM: @possworldsshop | #nerougissezpas!
For inquiries, contact info@possibleworldsshop.com

Possible Worlds presents a sampling of works in this "satellite show" by graphic art collective Ne Rougissez Pas! (France), who are participating in the exhibition Pendant ce-temps là en France at Galerie UQO. It will be the first time this collective has shown in Canada. The exhibition is curated by Valérie Yobé, Director of the École multidisciplinaire de l'image at UQO (Université du Québec en Outaouais).

Ne Rougissez Pas! is a seven-member all-female collective that brings together visual artists, designers and makers. Their aim is to develop a collaborative and mobile artistic practice linking citizens with their environment through the co-construction of their surroundings and the transformation of their city, towards a communal aesthetic allowing a heightened appreciation of everyday life.

Collaboration, sharing, immersion and imagination are central to their approach. By exploring work and production processes unique to each situation, region and encounter, the members of the collective become content creators circulating between different skills and expertise, such as graphic design, devices, installation, education, bookbinding, silkscreening, film, and signage.

Questions that drive their work include:

• What is the place today of the citizen within the city? What is the “dream city”?
• How does one move throughout public space? How does one transform it?
• How do we live together? Meet/surprise/intrigue one another? How do we share our skills and knowledge?
• How might dreams be the driving force of our society? How might our individual and collective experiences allow us to build it?

The members of the collective are:
Sophie Bergier, Visual artist
Léa Chantel, Film artist
Julia Chantel, Graphic artist
Colette Ducamp, Graphic artist
Maryam Douari, Graphic and visual artist
Estelle Henriot, Book artist
Sarah Medalel, Coordinator

*Curatorial text translated by Possible Worlds Co-Director, Melanie Yugo

To view more art works by Ne Rougissez Pas! and six other French graphic artists and collectives, check out Galerie UQO’s exhibition Pendant ce-temps là en France, from November 16 to December 3, 2016.  Opening night/vernissage is Wednesday, November 16. Location: Université du Québec en Outaouais, Saint-Jean-Bosco campus, 101 Saint-Jean-Bosco Street (Enter through doors 11 & 16), Room A-0115, Gatineau, Québec. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 PM, Saturday 1:00-4:00 PM. This is the first time that these French artists and collectives are showing in Canada.

*All photos from Ne Rougissez Pas!'s website

EXHIBITION: Fabulous Beasts | Illustrated works by Caitlin McDonagh
DATES: September 24 - October 23, 2016 (EXTENDED!)
OPENING/VERNISSAGE: Saturday, September 24, 2016, 1-6 PM, artist in attendance (to coincide with Chinatown Remixed Art Festival)
WEBSITE: possibleworldsshop.com | caitlinmcdonagh.com
INSTAGRAM: @possworldsshop | @caitlinmcdonagh
For sales or inquiries, contact at info@possibleworldsshop.com

Possible Worlds presents the illustrated works of British Columbia visual artist Caitlin McDonagh in Fabulous Beasts.

Inspired by bestiaries of the past, McDonagh reflects on the blurred line that separates humans from animals from otherworldly beings, creating an alternate reality where are all forms of life are seen as equal. Reminiscent of creatures such as dragons, griffins and centaurs,  these new imaginary creatures take their own place within traditional folkloric backgrounds, rich with symbology and mythical elements.  By mixing fact and fable in Fabulous Beasts, McDonagh comments on the precarious balance between life and death, chaos and peace, and good and evil, universally present in the myths of diverse lands, cultures and histories.

*Curatorial text by Possible Worlds Co-Director, Melanie Yugo

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Caitlin McDonagh is a visual artist born and raised on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada and currently resides in Powell River, British Columbia. She creates intricate illustrative works that are deeply inspired by folklore, storytelling, traditions, architecture as well as various real and un-real sources. She works in a base of acrylagouache paints that lend well to her attention to detail, pattern work, and vibrant colours. 

We would like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

EXHIBITION: To light a candle Is to cast a shadow | Screen printed collage work by Alicia Nauta
DATES: August 11 – September 21, 2016
OPENING NIGHT: Thursday, August 11, 7-10 PM, artist in attendance
WEBSITE: possibleworldsshop.com | alicianauta.com
INSTAGRAM: @possworldsshop | @klassic_kool_shoppe
For sales or inquiries, contact at info@possibleworldsshop.com

Possible Worlds presents emerging artist Alicia Nauta (Toronto) in To light a candle Is to cast a shadow, the first solo exhibition of her screen printed collage work.

In this exhibition, Nauta reflects on the dualities and exchanges present in all forms of human and natural life: with light, there is darkness; with progress, there is decline. Environmental degradation, the crumbling of civilization, abstracted and psychedelic reality, domestic space, and human belonging are key themes that are explored.

Images collected from earlier publications, such as home decor guides from the 60's and 70's, botanical guides and encyclopedias, and pre-computer graphic design manuals, form the basis of Nauta’s work. The images are then manipulated, photocopied, cut, pasted and finally screen printed. 

By drawing on shared visual fragments of the past, her compositions are reassuringly familiar. At the same time, these visual fragments are combined in a way that challenge logic, space, and time, leaving the viewer unsettled or alienated, questioning reality. For example, the laws of physics seem to have gone amiss in her compositions: shadows go opposite ways, the wind blows in different directions, darkness comes from a lamp's light. Images are often positioned on contrasting dimensional planes - a 2D object next to a 3D object - representing multiple and sometimes conflicting perspectives. Doorways and windows are a recurring motif, offering us a glimpse into another time and place.

“To light a candle is to cast a shadow” is a quote from speculative fiction novelist and poet Ursula K. Le Guin, and serves as a point of departure for the show. Within Nauta’s collages lie a simultaneous celebration and mourning for a world we are only passing through. It has been here before us, and will remain long after we are gone.

*Curatorial text by Possible Worlds Co-Director, Melanie Yugo

OPENING NIGHT

Opening night is Thursday, August 11, 7-10 PM at Possible Worlds with artist in attendance.
Special electronic music performance by Carl Didur (Zacht Automaat).

** Entry is free and open to all.

ALICIA NAUTA'S WORKS IN SHOP

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Alicia Nauta is a Toronto-based artist whose practice is made up of collage, screenprinting, installation, wallpaper, book works, and a growing collection of found oddities for a future museum. She is member of Punchclock, a Toronto print studio, and has taught screenprinting and other DIY workshops at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) as part of the AGO Youth Free After Three program. She regularly tables at the New York Art Book Fair (NYABF) and Los Angeles Art Book Fair (LAABF) with publications and prints. Her first solo show, To Light a Candle is To Cast a Shadow, was exhibited at Possible Worlds (Ottawa) in 2016. Her work has also been exhibited at the AGO, Printed Matter, Katherine Mulherin, Artscape Youngplace, Art Metropole, and Narwhal Projects, as well as permanent wallpaper installations at Double Double Land, Likely General and a really cool baby's room. 

www.alicianauta.com

MUSIC PERFORMER BIOGRAPHY

Carl Didur is a Toronto-based keyboardist who often uses multiple 1/4" reel to reel tape loops on stage to create layered, shifting, minimalist compositions. Simple rhythms are phased with drifting melodies while Carl adjusts and blends, echoes and accompanies. Poly-rhythms and pentatonic solos burble and grind in a cavern of reverb. He is part of ZACHT AUTOMAAT, a Canadian duo specializing in home recordings of mostly instrumental electronic music.  Music for thinking, dancing, working, being.

carldidur.bandcamp.com

We would like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

EXHIBITION: Posi~Vibes | Illustration x Ceramic Work by Benjamin Woodyard
OPENING NIGHT: Friday, June 24, 7-10 PM, artist in attendance
DATES: June 24 to July 23, 2016
WEBSITE: possibleworldsshop.com | benjaminwoodyard.tumblr.com
INSTAGRAM: @possworldsshop | @benjaminwoodyard
Free entry
For sales or inquiries, contact at info@possibleworldsshop.com

The next Possible Worlds exhibition presents the work of Ottawa-based emerging ceramicist and illustrator Benjamin Woodyard.

In Posi~Vibes, Woodyard explores his experiences of grief and growth following university graduation in 2014, his mother's death shortly thereafter, and striking it out on his own as an artist in Ottawa. 

Initially using black and white journal-like zines and sketches to chronicle emotions arising from parental loss, the banality of everyday life, and existential questions entering adulthood, Woodyard's work shifts as he comes to terms with his internal struggles. 

In this new phase of work, he has begun to experiment with the creation of crude yet colourful ceramic sculptures, or "posi-vibes", that reflects a different outlook for more positive surroundings, a stronger artistic voice, and a desire to connect with others through human experience again.

*Curatorial text by Possible Worlds Co-Director, Melanie Yugo

Opening night is Friday, June 24, 7-10 PM at Possible Worlds with artist in attendance. 

** Entry is free and open to all.

BIO
Benjamin Woodyard is an Ottawa-born artist who works predominantly in ceramics, but also writes and draws . He received his BFA from NSCAD University in 2014. His first book, ‘GRIEF', was self-published in 2014.

EXHIBITION: Pineapple Crush | Work by Amery Sandford
DATES: Friday, May 13 - Sunday, June 12, 2016
OPENING NIGHT: Friday, May 13, 7-10 PM, artist in attendance
WEBSITE: possibleworldsshop.com | amerysandford.com
INSTAGRAM: @possworldsshop | @chubbycowboy

All prints and artbooks are available for purchase.

Possible Worlds presents the work of Newfoundland & Labrador-based emerging print artist Amery Sandford. 

In Pineapple Crush, Sandford explores sense of place and non-place through the creation of printed matter in lithography, silkscreening and woodcuts, focusing on Canadian and American regional identity, tourism and celebration. From island culture to southern culture, she juxtaposes the deep connection to land and nature associated with Newfoundland and Labrador, an eastern province to which she recently relocated, with ephemeral notions of entertainment and everyday life associated with Nashville, Tennessee, where she has spent the last two months completing a print residency. 

*Curatorial text by Possible Worlds Co-Director, Melanie Yugo

BIOGRAPHY
After receiving her BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University (NSCADU) in 2014, Amery relocated to St. John's, Newfoundland to fulfill the Don Wright Scholarship at St. Michael's Printshop. Working in printmaking and performance, her work draws on cultural construction, tourism, youth culture, and public understanding of Canadian history. Besides maintaining a strong practice in print media, her work has expanded into collaboration with other artists and writers, such as publications or curatorial projects. She will be starting her MFA at Concordia University in Montreal in September 2016.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Through a combination of lithography, screen print, and relief, I explore cultural construction and identity through researching tourism, and large group events. I am interested in ideas of construction in both Canadian history and contemporary society; using attitudes I found in youth culture and celebration as a microcosm for Canada's own ideas of self-definition. I am drawn to instances that appear at events (such as the Calgary Stampede) that are amplified versions of cultural symbols that might be trying too hard to convey authenticity or tradition – potentially rendering themselves underwhelming or pretentious.

From these experiences of being immersed in cultural celebration, I have felt juxtaposed feelings of allure and repulse around Canadian representation in the way that almost every culture has certain stereotypes that pertain to a specific people, but at times it is difficult to pinpoint the real thing.

Printmaking contextualizes the themes I am working with because of its historical roots in tourist paraphernalia from the early 20th century such as post cards, and also in the use of colonial propaganda posters that encouraged settlement in North America. Romanticism plays a key role in many large scale lithographs of dewy Canadian landscapes and promise of opportunity.

The artist would like to thank the Newfoundland & Labrador Arts Council for its support.

** Entry is free and is open to all.

PRINTS & INKS | COLLABORATIVE EXPERIMENTS | INTERNATIONAL RISOGRAPH EDITION II

Presented by Possible Worlds x Spins & Needles
9 international Risograph studios
Dates: April 1 to May 12, 2016
Curated by: Melanie Yugo
Opening night: Friday, April 1, 7-10 PM
Free entry

:: FEATURED STUDIOS x PUBLISHERS :: 
코우너스 Corners (Korea)
Endless Editions (New York City, USA)
Hato Press (London, UK) 
Lentejas Press (Spain)
Riso Presto (France)
Topo Copy (Belgium)
Sandwich Mixto (Spain)
Soybot (Austria) 
We Make It (Germany)

This April and May, Possible Worlds and Spins & Needles host the fourth edition of Prints & Inks graphic art exhibition, featuring an international lineup of graphic artists, studios and publishers specializing in cutting-edge print practices. 

Building on the 2015 Prints & Inks exhibition, this 2016 exhibition focuses on a group of studios and publishers in North America, Europe, and Asia that approach part of their practice through an experimental and collaborative lens, with the Risograph printing machine at the centre of it. Just as important as producing innovative work is the process of working with others, be it other artists, studios or the public, to test ideas, push boundaries, make mistakes and learn new things. 

The results of these "experiments" take the form of original artwork as well as limited edition prints, posters, art books and zines. These works will exhibited and available for purchase during the show.

The Risograph is a printing machine that is quickly becoming a definitive creative tool in today’s art, design and publishing milieus. A global network of artists, designers, publishers, studios and institutions are using it to produce creative content in multiples which exhibit a handmade, silkscreened aesthetic, from zines to art books to posters to album covers.

*Curatorial text by Possible Worlds Co-Director, Melanie Yugo

:: ARTIST PROFILES :: 
Interviews with participating artists will be posted throughout the show on our blog, featuring their creative processes, how the Risograph influences their work, what inspires them, how their city contributes to their practice, and future projects.

Prints & Inks is a print and graphic arts exhibition series in Ottawa, Canada's capital city. It features the work of emerging and experimental graphic artists, studios and designers in Canada and internationally. 

** Entry is free and is open to all.

Soundescape
Illustrations by Ben van Duyvendyk
Opening Night: Friday, February 19, 2016 from 7-10 PM, to coincide with Possible Worlds birthday party
Exhibition Dates: February 19 to March 12, 2016 (EXTENDED)
New and original artwork, Risograph prints and zines available for purchase. 

In Soundescape, Ottawa-based graphic designer and illustrator Ben van Duyvendyk imagines the evolution of post-human creatures to a world where verbal language is absent and where the only form of communication is sound.

Ben take us through the stages of this evolution, from humans and animals outfitted in bespoke clothing and head gear used to translate different languages from around the world, to otherwordly creatures with permanent fixtures around their heads used to mediate thoughts and emotions through sound waves. The end state is a species where 100% of its genetic material is physically expressed, resulting in living organisms that experience the world through a cacophony of bleeps and blops.

Special for this exhibition, Ben van Duyvendyk and Possible Worlds are publishing a Risograph printed zine, and limited edition shirt.

*Curatorial text by Possible Worlds Co-Director, Melanie Yugo

ABOUT BEN VAN DUYVENDYK

Ben van Duyvendyk was raised in a burned down swamp along with sheep and earthbound fowl.

He frequented guidance counselor offices for what he drew in the margins of his notebooks. Since then he's done graphic design work for the federal government, Drawn & Quarterly publishing, countless album covers, gig posters, and horrible guest vocals for the denizens of the local music scene. He sketches compulsively, paints occasionally, and is irresistibly drawn to new methods of expressing ideas visually so he can do away with speaking altogether.

Currently he's delving further into the photographic with video work on the way, vainly taking a stab at a short graphic novel, and undertaking a gauntlet of collaborative work with local and not so local artists, musicians and writers.

Leonard Cohen continues to ignore his calls.

~ SNACK TIME: A 3-COURSE SERVING ~
As part of Apt613's Support Local month, Possible Worlds and House of Common are collaborating to present the project Snack Time: A 3-Course Serving. Part food gathering, part art show and part publication, we're celebrating the diversity of food through the world of snacks. 

> POP UP SNACK BAR <
Thursday, October 22 | 7-10 PM
House of Common (11B Fairmont Avenue, Hintonburg)
Food gathering, potluck style
Cover: $5 or free if you bring your fave snack, enough to share with 5-6 others
Refreshments available
Snack visual projections x beats by DJ Jason Skilz

> GROUP ART SHOW <
Friday October 30 (show opening) | 7-10 PM
Possible Worlds (708G Somerset St. W., Chinatown)
Runs until Sunday November 15

Featuring the work of local artists in print, illustration, collage and photography, inspired by diverse experiences and stories related to snack food:
> Melissa Blackman
> Regreta Brown
> Kristina Corre
> Olivia Johnston
> Stephanie St-Jean Aubre
> Delphine Sullivan
> Guillermo Trejo
> Ben Van Duyvendyk
> Colin White
> LOG Creative Bureau

> PUBLICATION: 613 SNACK STORIES <
The project will culminate in a Risograph-printed zine publication highlighting favourite snack food from local creatives in Ottawa. 

> FOOD DONATIONS <
Non-perishable food donations for the Ottawa Food Bank will be accepted at both Possible Worlds and House of Common throughout the project.

ORIENTATIONS: ILLUSTRATIONS BY NESS LEE (TORONTO)

Exhibition Dates: Saturday, September 19 to Sunday, October 11, 2015 (EXTENDED TO OCTOBER 18, 2015)
Location: Possible Worlds, (708G Somerset St. West, top floor, Humphrey Plaza, between Cambridge and Arthur)

Our first solo graphic art show at, Possible Worlds, is Orientations, featuring the work of Toronto-based illustrator Vanessa (“Ness”) Lee in her first ever solo show. 

Ness is a recent graduate from OCAD University in Toronto, but in a few short years has become recognized for her distinctive illustration style and subject matter. Selected as a top illustrator by American Illustration, Society of Illustratorsand CMYK magazines, Ness has shown at exhibitions and fairs in Canada and internationally. Her work has also appeared in publications such as Lucky Peach to BUST to Maisonneuve.

Ness’ illustrations, ceramics and prints at first glance can be viewed as playful and humorous renditions of familiar Asian icons, from sumo wrestlers to lucky cats to noodle bowls. A closer look reveals a body of work that explores the complex relationship between self and one’s place in contemporary culture and society. In Orientations, the artist draws on her personal experiences – negotiating what it means to be Hakka-Chinese Canadian, a person of colour, an artist, a young female, a daughter – to portray multifaceted characters, often in vulnerable positions and contexts.  At the same time, Ness subtly brings attention to and challenges traditional perceptions of Asian beauty, sexuality, nudity and power, bringing together pieces of her cultural heritage to create a strong and candid visual narrative of her own.

*Curatorial text by Possible Worlds Co-Director, Melanie Yugo

> Artist Website: Ness Lee
> Instagram
> Tumblr
> Twitter

Presented by Spins & Needles to coincide with Chinatown Remixed Art and Cultural Festival, and Nuit Blanche Ottawa-Gatineau.

Contact Information
Show Organizer: Melanie Yugo, Creative Director, Spins & Needles
E-mail: spinsandneedles@gmail.com

Prints & Inks is a celebration of print and graphic arts in Canada's capital city.

This year, we're taking a different approach to the graphic art show. With the opening of our pop-up space, Possible Worlds, and Spins & Needles 10-Year Anniversary in 2015, we'll be bringing multiple shows to you this year and featuring creative talent from Canada and beyond.

PRINTS & INKS 2015: RISOGRAPH EDITION

:: DETAILS
What: Prints & Inks 2015: Risograph Edition presented by Spins & Needles
When: Friday, June 5, to Sunday, July 12, 2015 EXTENDED TO JULY 30, 2015
Opening Party: Friday, June 5 from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m.
Where: Possible Worlds (Spins & Needles micro experimental space) (708G Somerset St. W., Ottawa, Canada), (on the top floor of the Humphrey Plaza, between Arthur and Cambridge Streets)
Hours: Wednesdays x Thursdays 6-9 PM | Saturday x Sundays 12-6 PM
Admission: Free
Curated by: Melanie Yugo, Spins & Needles Creative Director

Our first gallery show this year at Possible Worlds is focused on the Risograph printing machine. Although the Risograph is a relative newcomer to the print world, it is quickly becoming a definitive creative tool in today’s art, design and publishing milieus. A global network of artists, designers, publishers, studios and institutions are using it to produce creative content in multiples which exhibit a handmade, silkscreened aesthetic, from zines to art books to posters to album covers.

For the last few months, Spins & Needles Creative Director Melanie Yugo has been researching the past, present and future of this print machine, interviewing several Risograph leaders around the world, as part of an article written for Issue 25 of Uppercase Magazine, the Printmaking Issue.

This exhibition presents leading international artists, designers, publishers and studios who have pioneered and are producing experimental work using the Risograph, pushing the boundaries of the machine, and disseminating ideas through print in a democratic and accessible way. We're excited to bring them together for the first time here in Ottawa.

Original, affordable artwork, limited edition prints, artbooks and zines will be available for purchase during the entire show.

*Curatorial text by Possible Worlds Co-Director, Melanie Yugo

:: FEATURED ARTISTS x DESIGNERS x STUDIOS x PRESSES

• Clay Hickson | Tan & Loose Press (Chicago, US)
• Colpa Press (San Francisco, US)
• Gabriella Marcella | Risotto Press (Glasgow, Scotland)
• Ink Cha Cha (Hong Kong)
• Issue Press (Grand Rapids, US)
• JP King | Paper Pusher (Toronto, Canada)
• Knuckles & Notch (Singapore)
• Knust | Extrapool (Nijmegen, The Netherlands)
• Sigrid Calon (Tilburg, The Netherlands)

:: OPENING NIGHT
Opening night is at Possible Worlds on Friday, June 5 from 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Resident DJ Jason Skilz will be spinning underground beats. We'll be talking about our newly acquired Risograph.

:: CLOSING NIGHT
Closing night is at Possible Worlds on Thursday, July 30 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Resident DJ Jason Skilz will be spinning underground beats. We'll be launching our first Risograph publication, Noise in NYC.

:: ARTIST PROFILES
We'll be posting interviews on the blog with participating artists leading up to and throughout the show, from how they got started to their inspirations to perspectives on where they live to their future projects.

:: SOCIAL MEDIA
Web: www.spinsandneedles.com | www.possibleworldsshop.com
Twitter x Instagram: @spinsandneedles | @possworldsshop
Hashtag: #PrintsandInks
Facebook: Spins & Needles | Possible Worlds

To find out more about past shows:

• Read our recap of the Prints & Inks 2014 show on the blog.
• You can check out more photos on our Facebook page, and through our Instagram and Twitter feed using #PrintsandInks.
• Read profiles of past participating artists.