OCAD University

THE CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS: THE NON-MIMETIC SELF PORTRAIT

Curated by Steven Holmes

The works of:  Marina Abramoviç, Robert Beck, Stanley Brouwn, Thierry Delva, Tracey Emin, Spencer Finch, Kelly Mark, Magnus von Plessen, Jennifer Reifsneider, Natalie Waldburger, Martin Wilner

What is a portrait? Is it a likeness, only? Can a portrait be a likeness, but not be ‘about’

the subject? Is a portrait about the artist, or the subject? Can a self-portrait not be

about the self? Or is there a way in which all art is, in the end, about the artist – and

therefore all art is self-portraiture?

The self-portrait is in some senses the most fundamental of artworks.. The first work of

art, handprints on a cave left 50,000 years ago was – simply - a self-portrait.

I am.

I was.

In this way, the self-portrait is a trace element in the history of consciousness. The human drive – expressed often as the drive to “leave a mark” – is the drive of a human subject to be seen, pictured, or remembered in some way. Much of human creativity arcs towards the monument.

While the artists in “The Cave of Forgotten Dreams” each make their own subjectivity the subject of the work exhibited, in each case the self is depicted not through mimesis, but through surrogacy, allusion, redirection or the refraction of the notion of self from noun to verb, from subject to object, or from self to other.

Artist Reception

Thursday, November 2, 2017, 5-7 pm

with a special performance by Natalie Waldburger

Painters is an exhibition of new paintings by Sybil Goldstein, David Joron, Kristi Ropeleski and OCAD Instructor Natalie Waldburger. The four painters use their very developed and personal styles to create works that address the figure with an impetus towards a narrative.

All the artists have strong academic background and are currently teaching drawing or painting at various post secondary institutions. They are also being featured, in their respective categories, in the upcoming Carte Blanche volume on Canadian painters being released by Magenta Publishing for the Arts this November.

A condition in which two closely related persons, usually in the same family, share the same delusion.
Implicit in the idea of the double madness of Folie ' deux is the twin.
This twinly madness, as the term was originally referred to, is a doubling of
singular delusions. This work makes a case for the double madness of the
single person, an illusion of twin. The folly lies in the delusion shared with
a phantom twin.
It is possible that many singletons, that is, people born alone -- not as a
twin, started life as a twin in foetal development. It has been suggested
that, in competition for resources, one foetus absorbs the other during
pregnancy. Several medical and scientific theories make a case for this
possibility by citing the frequent discoveries in adults of cysts containing bits of hair, teeth and spinal tissue. These are believed to be signs of a "Vanished Twin".
The Vanished Twin is that 'perfect other'. The 'other' that is at once equal but different, promising eternal companionship and understanding because it is, although other, identical. It is an Other that exists as a potential. The vanished and vanquished twin bridges the lamentable loss of identity. The
flipside of this coin is the conjoined twin, the 'Siamese' twin, the
Doppelg'nger. This is the inescapable twin. The uncanny, perfect Other that
can never be eluded. It is a twinship into which one is born and the death of
which marks one's own demise.
A twinning of one, a delusion of two. These tightropes are crossed with some
trepidation as they call into question a singular self-identity but they also
muse on the nature of madness and companionship. It is a bittersweet idea, "while the vanished twin assures us of a sempiternal human link, it affords us also the pathos of inexpressible loss."
Natalie Majaba Waldburger

Natalie Majaba Waldburger received her B.A. specializing in Women's Studies at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. In 1996, she graduated with Honours from the Ontario College of Art and Design receiving the Drawing and Painting Department Medal, the highest award in her department. Natalie has taught at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in the Media Arts Department where she completed an MFA in 2004.
Since graduation Natalie has received provincial and federal grants for her artwork, which she has been exhibiting since 1994. Her paintings are represented in various public, private and corporate collections in Europe, North America, and Australia.

An exciting event called Draw to Perform has been put together for all students and faculty of OCAD U. It is a two day symposium incorporating drawing with performance on Wednesday February 10th and Thursday February 11th in the Great Hall. Please find attached more details for this fantastic event!
Drawing Symposium, Draw to Perform

Participating Artists:
Ram Samocha, Nava Massas Waxman, Robert Luzar, Kerryn Graham, Francisco-Fernando Granados, Nicole Collins, Kate Wilson and Cathy Daley

Day 1: Wednesday February 10
Live Performances: 12:00 - 2:00 pm, Great Hall
Panel Discussion with the Artists: 2:30 - 4:00 pm, Great Hall
Day 2: Thursday February 11
Artist Talk: by Ram Samocha, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Room MCA 190.
Workshop 1: hosted by Ram Samocha, 1:30 – 3:30 pm, Great Hall
Workshop 2: hosted by Ram Samocha, 4:00 – 6:00 pm, Great Hall

Draw to Perform visits OCAD U was made possible with the generous donation on behalf of Ada Slaight, and supported by the Ada Slaight Chair of Contemporary Painting and Print Media, Natalie Waldburger. Art materials during this event were generously sponsored by Above Ground Art Supplies.

In the spirit of pushing the boundaries of imagination we proudly welcome Draw to Perform, an international symposium for drawing performance. This symposium is a two day event, curated by Ram Samocha in collaboration with James Olley, Lecturer in the Faculty of Art at OCAD U. Samocha is a multidisciplinary artist currently living in the UK and is the founder and curator of Draw to Perform.

Day one of the symposium will feature live performances by local and international artists. Day two will open with an artist talk by Ram Samocha, followed by workshops in the Great Hall. The workshops will explore drawing as performance and strategies for forming a dialog between drawing, process and performance. Participants will draw live, share and discuss their outcomes and ideas. The resulting works will be exhibited in the Great Hall. Participants welcome. Please contact jolley@faculty.ocadu.ca to sign up.

For the workshops, participants will need to bring basic drawing materials such as graphite, charcoals, chalks, Conté, ballpoint pen, acrylic paints, black ink, brushes, and/or masking tape. Paper will be provided for the workshop.

For further information on Draw to Perform, follow the links below:
http://drawtoperform.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVF6SNhjsDMpFK7YVTVNphg
https://www.facebook.com/drawtoperform

Gestural Figuration
Paul Klee wrote that drawing is “an active line on a walk, moving freely, without a goal. A walk for a walk’s sake. The mobility agent is a point, shifting its positions forward.” DRPT 2003 Drawing Workshop, composed of mostly second year students from a variety of specializations, has been “taking drawing for a walk” pursuing ideas around how the activation of a contemporary drawing practice can affect the very way we think about drawing. In this project, Gestural Figuration, the artists have been exploring, through partner dialogue, the interrelationship between the body and drawing, making use of unconventional performative strategies to challenge their own assumptions, their use of materials, and the very definition of drawing itself.

Also exhibiting as part of the Draw to Perform Visits OCAD U Symposium:
Artists:
Ricka Huang & Arleen Maldia, Anthony Masucci & Maxim Korpan, Nikita Macedo & Bailey Porter, Gordis Wong & Uyen Huynh, DJ Stewart & Bailey Marinovich, Josie Fiegehen & Sydney McManus, Daniel Acker-Paquin, Margaret Cornell Kirk & Emma Leah-Hall, Aaron Bosnjak & Emma Burkeitt, Juilee Raje & Sonia Raje, Sorour Pourzadeh & Wenjing Zhang

Facilitators:
Pam Patterson & Ghazaleh Baniahmad: Project leadership
Josie Fiegehen & DJ Stewart: Video compilation & editing

Special thanks to James Olley and Ram Samocha.