issue 4 // volume 44

‘Inhabited Lives’ inhabits
Amelia Douglas Gallery

arts // no. 9

€¢ It speaks to a neighbourhood
that has very deep roots... and I
just felt like I wanted to capture
that before it disappears.”

— Shannon Harvey, Artist

> Exhibit explores Chinatown, animal use, motherhood, and more

Caroline Ho
Arts Editor

 

he Amelia Douglas Gallery’s newest

exhibit takes gallery visitors through
four distinct series of artworks, each
inspiring viewers to consider their
relationships with the world and
its inhabitants in different ways.
Inhabited Lives, featuring the prints,
paintings, and other mixed media works
of artist Shannon Harvey, opened in
the gallery on September 14. As Harvey
told the Other Press in an interview
at the exhibit’s opening reception, the
four series of works encompass most of
what she has produced over the past six
years, and she’s excited to have the large
space of the gallery to display her art.
The Underground series is a set of
abstract acrylic and ink paintings that
Harvey started about six years ago, after
Harvey’s daughter was born. Creating
these pieces was the artist’s way of
working through the emotions of being
a new mother, although she didn’t fully
realize this connection until later.
Harvey said she doesn't often work in
abstract, so she found the experience
of creating these pieces freeing because
of how viewers can approach the art
through their own interpretations. Some
works, such as “Mother and Child,’ clearly
invoke the idea of motherhood; others
are less explicit, such as “Gyre” with its
bold lines and swirling patterns. Yet all
of the pieces in the Underground series
convey a sense of free-flowing life.
The Animal Icons series is less abstract,
but no less impactful. This group of
prints explores the relationship between
humans and animals and the question
of raising animals ethically for food

and other human purposes. The prints
show small-scale farmers and other
individuals working humanely and
respectfully with animals, such as Joe
Wasp, a man who performs ethical
relocations of bee and wasp nests.
Harvey said the style of this series was
heavily inspired by old Polish posters

of the ’50s and ’6os. The prints are all
mainly black and white, with only one
or two areas of colour that accentuate
the intricate textures of the works.
Although Harvey is not vegetarian or
vegan herself, she strives to prompt a
reconsideration of our interactions with
our food. “We're very close with these
animals, and yet we're eating them too,”
she said to the Other Press—a paradox
that her art calls into question.

Another series of works, China People
Street, was directly inspired by Harvey's
walks through Chinatown in Vancouver.
It’s an area full of, rich history and
unique character, depicted through the
artist’s vivid acrylic paintings of elderly
residents and street-level activity.
Harvey lives very near Chinatown, in
Strathcona, so she’s witnessed the area
change intensely over the past few years.
Architectural development, demographic
shifts, and cultural change have led

toa profound transformation of the
neighbourhood. Harvey’s paintings are
her attempt to memorialize some of this
distinctive spirit before it is completely
eroded by new developments.

“Tt speaks to a neighbourhood that

has very deep roots... and I just felt

like I wanted to capture that before

it disappears,” said Harvey.

Her most recent artistic series is We
Could Be Heroes, containing portraits of
people whom Harvey finds inspirational,

 

such as Cindy Blackstock, a local First
Nations activist known for her advocacy
in Aboriginal children’s welfare.

With the work in this series, Harvey

aims to celebrate the accomplishments
of these individuals and to show that
heroism can be found in even seemingly
ordinary circumstances. “These are
everyday people,” she said of the portraits’
subjects. “They are not rock stars. They
are not celebrities ... They’re really out
there doing this amazing work, and |
think [they] can be inspiring for all of us.”
She told the Other Press she didn't
originally intend for We Could Be

Heroes to show only women, which all

 

three of the works so far do. “I realized
that I did [focus on women] as it was
happening, and I was thinking, ‘Actually,
you know what? That’s okay,” she said.
Harvey plans to continue with this
series, and she doesn't know if she'll
end up including any men; if not, she
is happy to recognize and celebrate
the many powerful women who are
leading movements and inspiring
change around the world.

Inhabited Lives is currently on display
in the Amelia Douglas Gallery,

located on the fourth floor of the

New Westminster campus. The
exhibit will run until October 21.

Chairman of the Board: The matching game

> ‘Apples to Apples’ and ‘Cards Against Humanity’ game reviews

Ed Appleby
Contributor

keknk

[mere often comes in the form of
pairs. Sometimes it is in the conflict of
different brands pushing the same basic
technology with slight differences; other
times it is a genesis of innovation and
refinement. That is the case with these
two wonderful games—one ground-
breaking, the other record-setting.
Apples to Apples (1999) is a judged
matching game for four or more people
designed by Matthew Kirby and Mark
Alan Osterhaus and published by Mattel.
Cards Against Humanity (20n) isa
judged matching game for four or more
people designed and published by the
Cards Against Humanity Team. In these
games, the players take turns acting as
judge and they read a subject card (green

 

or white depending on the game), then
all other players contribute cards (red
or black depending on the game) that
they feel best matches the judge’s card.
The cards are read out, hilarity ensues,
and the player who contributes the
best match gets the judge’s card. The
first player to get to the predetermined
number of green (or white) cards wins.
Though the mechanics are the same,
the two games differ in one fundamental
detail. In Apples to Apples, the cards
are green adjective cards that are paired
with red noun cards. In Cards Against
Humanity, the judges’ cards are fill in the
blank, with the black cards having very

specific and explicit things. This allows the

two games to thrive together, with Apples
to Apples being more family-friendly and
universal and Cards Against Humanity
catering to a much lewder adult audience.
The base mechanics of both games
are very strong, and I would recommend
either or both for any collection,
depending on what youre into.

 

Photos by Analyn Cuarto

Illustration by Ed Appleby