found/held

Gallery hours

Tu–Sa: 12–5 pm; Su&M: closed

found/held presents work by Alana Bartol (Calgary), Lindsay Dobbin (Bay of Fundy), Ursula Handleigh (Halifax), and Pavitra Wickramasinghe (Montreal). Considering these works through a drawing lens, this exhibition investigates the artists’ use of concrete materials (iron, water, air) to capture phenomena (waves, breathe, energy). Inspired by reading about the disappearing skill of wave pilots in the Marshall Islands—specially trained in the ancient art of reading the waves by feel and sight—Wickramasinghe’s Coral bones/La mer (2018) is a return to these innate navigation skills and of the body to the environment. Dobbin’s practice of drumming the surface of the Bay of Fundy is reflected in their sound works, sometimes using a single strike of a drum to create a spacious soundscape. Through animated iron-filing videos, Bartol reimagines dowsing (also known as water-witching) as a technology for remediation of contaminated land. Lastly, Handleigh uses experiential photography and alternative processes of image-making to record personal histories, such as capturing the pacing of her walking breath on photographic paper.