Exhibition Dates: April 6 – May 25, 2019

Artist Reception and Talk: April 27, 2019 2-4pm
Robin Lambert & Brenda Malkinson will be in attendance

Location: Alberta Craft Gallery – Calgary
cSPACE, 1721 – 29 Avenue SW

Three solo exhibitions come together in one space this spring at the Alberta Craft Gallery – Calgary. Robin Lambert and Giselle Peters both explore contemporary culture through their ceramic sculptures while Brenda Malkinson reflects on the passage of time through glass and printmaking techniques.

BECAUSE IT NEVER OCCURS TO US THAT WE CANNOT
Robin Lambert

“Because it never occurs to us that we cannot,” describes the DNA of Alberta. ‘I am here,’ says Alberta. ‘I must grow.’

It is also a mantra for both the artist and our contemporary cultural impulse. I cannot stop. I do not want to stop. I will not stop. I want to make, to build, to elevate. And when it starts to fall apart, don’t worry, we can hold it together — with spit and string if necessary. The feeling of expansionism echoes across the history of colonized Alberta: Build. Expand. Repeat. Crush that which came before. The party must go on. The party must go on and the stories about their glory must be told and retold.

The ceramic works throughout Robin Lambert’s (Red Deer) exhibition are in various states of disrepair and conservation. Some pieces stand tall and erect, new and shiny, gold and brazen, while others are in a precarious and dilapidated condition, holding on to what form they can keep. All the sculptures are porcelain, glazed with celadon, two materials from far away and, much like materials produced in Alberta, have their own long histories. They have been as much creative materials as desirable, tradable, and expensive commodities. And now, the fragility and beauty of these materials belay the useful function that the structures may have once possessed and all that remains is to fix or replace them. The party must go on.

Robin Lambert is an artist and educator interested in social practice, ceramic, and craft. Born on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, his childhood was spent living throughout Western Canada before his family eventually settled in Northern Alberta. These wandering ways continued through his adult life, before he too settled down long enough to earn a BFA from Alberta College of Art + Design and an MFA from the University of Regina. His projects and exhibitions have been shown in Canada, the United States, and, Australia.

MILK & OIL
Giselle Peters

Milk & Oil is a collection of figurative sculpture that addresses the human condition through the lens of childhood. A presentation of contemporary issues using images of children and toys, it highlights the childish behaviour of the adult world and speculates about the long-term effects of our enterprises, particularly among these most vulnerable members of our society and on the future of our species. Focusing primarily on war, nationalism, consumerism, propaganda and the food industry, it considers key players involved and motivating mechanisms of money and power in a markedly facetious tone.
This exhibition is, for Giselle, a declaration of precisely what repels me about contemporary culture, in which she sees the same theatrics that she observed in childhood, magnified with guns, money and power. Despite her admitted disinterest in politics and current affairs, her curiosity of human behaviour compels her to observe the spectacle and respond. There is a grotesque overtone to the show underlining the insidiousness that she thinks this choice of behaviour heralds in adults. Unlike with children, there exists the capacity to understand the ramifications of their actions, which are potentially devastating on a global political scale.

THE SURFACE OF THINGS; CHASING LIGHT
Brenda Malkinson

This new body of work by Brenda Malkinson continues to explore the interplay of light and surface. Brenda captures isolated “snapshots”, from infinite possibilities, through the passage of time. The series aims to illustrate an individual’s sublime placement in time and space, while considering an infinite stream of fixed moments.

Organic forms and undulations shaped in stained glass and woodcut prints suggest the metaphorical properties of bodies of water, representations of the flow of time, and ever-changing, yet consistent wholes. As Kafka said, “…dare to dive from the quivering everyday experience and sink into the depths in order to rise again…to the now doubly illuminated surface of things.”

Brenda has maintained a dedicated studio practice and teaching schedule for over forty years alongside family and volunteering in the community. Travel and research has included France, Japan, Korea, Alaska, Canadian north and west coast. Her sketches, observations as well as kayaking and swimming informs her art practice and inspires strong parallels of light and colour of the prairie landscape she calls home.

Exhibition Dates: April 6 – May 25, 2019

Artist Reception and Talk: April 27, 2019 2-4pm
Robin Lambert & Brenda Malkinson will be in attendance

Location: Alberta Craft Gallery – Calgary
cSPACE, 1721 – 29 Avenue SW

Three solo exhibitions come together in one space this spring at the Alberta Craft Gallery – Calgary. Robin Lambert and Giselle Peters both explore contemporary culture through their ceramic sculptures while Brenda Malkinson reflects on the passage of time through glass and printmaking techniques.

BECAUSE IT NEVER OCCURS TO US THAT WE CANNOT
Robin Lambert

“Because it never occurs to us that we cannot,” describes the DNA of Alberta. ‘I am here,’ says Alberta. ‘I must grow.’

It is also a mantra for both the artist and our contemporary cultural impulse. I cannot stop. I do not want to stop. I will not stop. I want to make, to build, to elevate. And when it starts to fall apart, don’t worry, we can hold it together — with spit and string if necessary. The feeling of expansionism echoes across the history of colonized Alberta: Build. Expand. Repeat. Crush that which came before. The party must go on. The party must go on and the stories about their glory must be told and retold.

The ceramic works throughout Robin Lambert’s (Red Deer) exhibition are in various states of disrepair and conservation. Some pieces stand tall and erect, new and shiny, gold and brazen, while others are in a precarious and dilapidated condition, holding on to what form they can keep. All the sculptures are porcelain, glazed with celadon, two materials from far away and, much like materials produced in Alberta, have their own long histories. They have been as much creative materials as desirable, tradable, and expensive commodities. And now, the fragility and beauty of these materials belay the useful function that the structures may have once possessed and all that remains is to fix or replace them. The party must go on.

Robin Lambert is an artist and educator interested in social practice, ceramic, and craft. Born on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, his childhood was spent living throughout Western Canada before his family eventually settled in Northern Alberta. These wandering ways continued through his adult life, before he too settled down long enough to earn a BFA from Alberta College of Art + Design and an MFA from the University of Regina. His projects and exhibitions have been shown in Canada, the United States, and, Australia.

MILK & OIL
Giselle Peters

Milk & Oil is a collection of figurative sculpture that addresses the human condition through the lens of childhood. A presentation of contemporary issues using images of children and toys, it highlights the childish behaviour of the adult world and speculates about the long-term effects of our enterprises, particularly among these most vulnerable members of our society and on the future of our species. Focusing primarily on war, nationalism, consumerism, propaganda and the food industry, it considers key players involved and motivating mechanisms of money and power in a markedly facetious tone.
This exhibition is, for Giselle, a declaration of precisely what repels me about contemporary culture, in which she sees the same theatrics that she observed in childhood, magnified with guns, money and power. Despite her admitted disinterest in politics and current affairs, her curiosity of human behaviour compels her to observe the spectacle and respond. There is a grotesque overtone to the show underlining the insidiousness that she thinks this choice of behaviour heralds in adults. Unlike with children, there exists the capacity to understand the ramifications of their actions, which are potentially devastating on a global political scale.

THE SURFACE OF THINGS; CHASING LIGHT
Brenda Malkinson

This new body of work by Brenda Malkinson continues to explore the interplay of light and surface. Brenda captures isolated “snapshots”, from infinite possibilities, through the passage of time. The series aims to illustrate an individual’s sublime placement in time and space, while considering an infinite stream of fixed moments.

Organic forms and undulations shaped in stained glass and woodcut prints suggest the metaphorical properties of bodies of water, representations of the flow of time, and ever-changing, yet consistent wholes. As Kafka said, “…dare to dive from the quivering everyday experience and sink into the depths in order to rise again…to the now doubly illuminated surface of things.”

Brenda has maintained a dedicated studio practice and teaching schedule for over forty years alongside family and volunteering in the community. Travel and research has included France, Japan, Korea, Alaska, Canadian north and west coast. Her sketches, observations as well as kayaking and swimming informs her art practice and inspires strong parallels of light and colour of the prairie landscape she calls home.