Trondheim- Final thoughts (for now)

Six weeks ago I arrived in Trondheim in the middle of the night. The bus ride at 1 am was completely dark until we got into the city. I was disoriented after 24 hours of travel, but LKV and its apartment were easy to find. A cute cozy apartment, a huge bright studio, all mine for the next month and a half- what a dream!

I had some ups and downs with creation; the litho studio had been out of use for many years, and I couldn't manage to print a proper edition; at times I felt lost and irrelevant in a sea of conceptual theoretical art... but that forced me to change my plans and think outside the confines I normally do. There were openings every week and I met so many other artists with whom I got to share ideas and learn from. In the end, I felt satisfied with the work I did produce when I saw it on the gallery walls. Most of all, I realized the importance of and fulfillment gained from a studio and an arts community, both which Trondheim had plenty to offer.

For my last Saturday I sat by the fjord with other artists: new friends who have been so inspiring, sharing their unique perspectives on art and life. We had a beach fire and watched the sun set just below the mountains on the other side of the fjord. The sun didn't set in my preconceived concept of what that means; just stayed there, lingering behind the mountains so that the midnight sky was bright, never reaching twilight, only to rise again shortly.

This was an incredible experience. Thank you LKV, thank you Trondheim and thank you to all the people I met here! I hope to see you again.

Exhibition at Babel

My solo show is still on and you have 3 days left to check it out!

https://babelkunst.no/2016/05/20/valerie-syposz-a-momentary-glimpse/

ブレイク前夜展

A Momentary Glimpse, Exhibition at Babel

Today is the second day of my short but sweet solo show in Trondheim. Yesterday was the opening, a decent turnout despite the busy arts schedule this week and the perfect weather. As promised, here are some photos of the exhibition.

A Momentary Glimpse Set Up

This morning I hung the works for my show "A Momentary Glimpse". I was feeling a bit unhappy with some of the pieces while I was working on them, but they look great on the walls of the gallery. Babel is a great space, and the three rooms allowed me to split my work into three themes: architecture inspired works made in Trondheim, food and social satire.
There's still the lighting and map to create, but I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

More pictures to come after the opening.

AIR Update

I'm still in Norway. まだノルウェーだよ！

It's a race to finish for my exhibition, but rather than spend all my time in the studio, I have been taking advantage of the surrounding nature. Lots of walks in and outside the city and tons of artsy-fartsy activities with other artists.

個展の始まりはもうすぐなんですが、またノルウエーに来る機会あるかどうかわからないので、自然、トロンハイムの生活を楽しんでいます。

 A typical day in Trondheim: sunny on one side, rainy on the other.

 I went to Bymarka a couple times. It's a forested area just outside the city with hiking trails in the summer and ski trails in the winter. The first time, we took a ski trail which was not dry enough for hiking yet and ended up trudging through cold wet bog for a few kms. Luckily it was a really warm day and the ankle high water and mud was bearable.

Either way, it's great to breathe in the fresh air and feel the warm sun and cool breeze on your face.

A Momentary Glimpse

My solo show "A Momentary Glimpse" will open at Babel next week.

Check their Facebook page for information:

https://www.facebook.com/events/263308637355046/

I hope to see you there!

ありがとう！

来日してから、すでに６年間が経ちました。東京芸術大学で版画を勉強し、多様な仕事で新しい経験を得たし、展示、制作など山ほどして、アーティスト、そして人間として人生で最も重要な６年かでした。
難しい決断でしたが、帰国することにしました。
日本で出会った友達、作品を展示してくださったギャラリー、応援していただいた皆様、感謝のあまり、言葉もございません。
これから制作、生活拠点はカナダですが、日本で展示を続けていきたいので、またきっと会える機会いっぱいあります。
本当にありがとうございました！

ブレイク前夜〜次世代の芸術家たち

Hey everyone- guess what!
I was on TV yesterday! I appeared in a short TV series about young artists on BS Fuji. The segment will be on YouTube at a later date so everyone can see it.

昨日テレビに出演したよ！
BSフジの「ブレイク前夜〜次世代の芸術家たち」という若手アーティストを紹介する番組に作品を発表していただきました。現在日本にいなくて、私も見れなかったが、後ほどYouTubeにアップされるので、楽しみに待っています。

http://brezen.buyshop.jp/blog/2016/05/04/111306

AIR Update in Norway

So I have been in Trondheim for over 3 weeks now, with a few weeks left until I leave. The weather has got warm and all of a sudden it feels like spring. I've still been enjoying the fjord walks, taking in the sunset and dusk late at night.

I have a solo exhibition opening soon connected with my artist in residence program at LKV. My vision for the show is still in the forming stages. A lot of the individual pieces have been inspired by the architecture in Trondheim, but an exhibition is so much more than just the sum of its parts.

 Curation and the ways in which you display work can be just as important as the work itself. This is something I would say is not my forte; often my shows consist of framed work centred at eye level. It's perfectly fine for looking at a single piece, but gets boring with repetition throughout an entire gallery. It's something I intend to think about more from now on, especially after seeing some creative presentations of work in Trondheim.

Residency update

 Almost 3 weeks (half of my time here) has passed. What?! It still feels like I/m just adjusting.　

３週間が経ったと考えると「嘘でしょう？！」と言いたくなる。毎日あちこち行って、新しい経験得ているのに、まだ着いたばかりという気持ち。

 I gave an artist talk in the White Elephant, LKV's cafe during my second week here.
この間、レジデンスビル内カフェ「白い象」でアーティストトークを開いた。

 House artists use the space for cooking and eating, as well as for gathering on Tuesdays, usually for an artist presentation, followed by soup. Someone had made fish chowder for the day of my talk. The following week, a Portuguese artist gave a presentation which was followed by mussel soup.
ほぼ毎週の火曜日、アーティストプレゼンテーションが開かれ、美術について対話し、スープを食べるという面白いプログラムがある。

 スーププレゼンテーションの目的以外、「白い象」はアトリエ住人が使う台所、休憩スペースです。

 When I arrived in mid April, the sun was setting at 8:30pm. Now it is closer to 9:30. Last night at 10:30 pm, the sky was still light with the lingering dusk I had heard so much about but only really experienced here for the first time. Ottawa, and everywhere I have been in Canada, is too far south to witness this phenomenon. However, I assume the Canadian north has much the same beautiful light and is now high on my list of places I'd like to visit.
日が暮れる直前、フィヨルドを散歩すると大自然の素晴らしさに圧倒される。ここの空、光が泣きたいぐらい美しい。

トロンハイムのビル、屋根の形に興味が湧いて、木口木版やリトのテーマとして使っている。今まであまり街風景を題材としたことないから、素人みたいに楽しくて挑戦している。

 I'm still trying to work out the kinks in the litho studio. I'm currently working on a stone and a wood engraving about the architecture here. I can't say that architecture has ever really interested me as much as now and it is a welcome change (and challenge!) in my creation.

 ノルウェーは非常に高いと実感したが、トロンハイムに必ずお金を使う必要はない。美しい自然の中に散歩するところが多くて、Kristiansten Fortressを始め、無料に観光スポットも幾つかある。

So far, I may not have created anything I would call a masterpiece, but I am living life and getting so many new experiences... and maybe that's really what an artist in residence program is all about.