Newzones is thrilled to announce the fourth edition of the invitational exhibition, FreshFaces.

FreshFaces is a curated exhibit which brings together select Canadian artists for a one-time group showing, continuing Newzones’ commitment to introducing significant contemporary art practices to its audiences. Through distinct material languages and conceptual frameworks, the artists in this exhibition expand conversations about home, shelter, land, memory, care and perception – offering a survey of art practices that are both intimate and expansive.

FreshFaces will demonstrate how, for these artists, place is a lived experience – it’s psychological, historical, familial, and embodied. Domestic structures shimmer in stark environments. Cultural identities and narratives are explored through Indigenous artistic processes. Landscapes repeat and fragment, challenging our perceptions. Moments and places are converted to a language of colour and texture. Concepts of house and home are dissected. The connections and perceptions of place result in a stimulating and fresh view of “New to Newzones” and “New to Calgary” talent.

SHAWN EVANS

Working with repeating iterations of the landscape, Evans explores a larger reflection of contemporary life. In a world built on feeds and fragments, headlines and swipes, reality is constantly being reframed. By presenting multiple versions of the same scene, the work opens itself to infinite readings, highlighting the instability of perception and the dissonance between what is seen and what is understood.

Born in Regina and now based in Toronto, Evans holds a BFA with distinction from AUArts in 2009. His work can be found in various private and public collections, including The Esker Foundation (Calgary), Air Canada, and Bank of Montreal, amongst others.

WILL GILL

Gill is a multidisciplinary artist with much of his current work focused on photography’s intersection with theatrical environments. Simple flashes, theatrical gels and reflective fabrics are employed to create work which uses light as an avenue to meaning. Experimentation with analog approaches to lighting and material result in photographs that touch on isolation, mystery, longing and transcendence. Gill’s interest ultimately lies in the precarious nature of life somewhere near the edge.

Gill earned a BFA from Mount Allison University. Gill has completed artist residencies at The Arctic Circle Residency in Svalbard Norway, and Fogo Island Arts Residency. His work can be found in numerous private and public collections including Beaverbrook Art Gallery (New Brunswick), Canada Council art Bank (Ottawa), RBC (Toronto) and Saks Global (New York) to name a few.

Takashi Hilferink

Hilferink’s paintings reflect on the meaning of a house (a site, a thing) and a home (a way of life). His paintings prompt a physical reckoning with materials, while they filter the abstractions of personal experience. Using prismatic sheeting and reflective pigments alongside traditional painting techniques, the images change depending on how they are viewed. The result is work that quietly suggests that both spaces, and our understanding of them, are always shifting.

Hilferink holds a MFA from NSCAD and a BFA (Honours) from York University. His work has been collected by Art Bank of Nova Scotia and York University as well as various private collections.

KARINE LEGER

By juxtaposing textures and patterns, Léger reveals the subtle sensitivity of her paintings. Superimposed layers of images and transparent acrylics create geometric shapes that recall elements of nature. Each shape is fiercely independent and yet these elements come together gracefully to meet, overlap, or perhaps to pass one another in a journey that continues off the canvas. While each work may appear minimalist at first glance, the accumulation of material and narrative allows the work to gain in richness and complexity.

A graphic artist by profession, Karine Léger began to explore her interest in painting in the early 2000’s. Over the ensuing years, her artistic vision evolved through photography, collage and painting. Her work has been exhibited throughout North America and the UK.

MICHELLE SOUND

Sound’s work explores personal and familial narratives with a consideration of Indigenous artistic processes. Her works explore cultural identities and histories by engaging materials and concepts within a contemporary context. Through utilizing such practices as drum making, caribou hair tufting, beadwork, painting and photography, her work highlights that acts of care and joy are situated in family and community. She works with traditional and contemporary materials and techniques to explore maternal labour, identity, and cultural knowledges.

Michelle Sound is a Cree and Métis artist and mother. She is a member of Wapsewsipi Swan River First Nation in Treaty 8 Territory, Northern Alberta where her mother is from, her father’s family is from the Buffalo Lake and Kikino Métis settlements in central Alberta, Treaty 6 territory. She was born and raised on the unceded and ancestral home territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She holds a BFA from Simon Fraser University, School for the Contemporary Arts, and a Master of Applied Arts from Emily Carr University Art + Design. Her work has most recently been placed in the National Gallery of Canada (Ontario), the McMichael Collection (Ontario), to name a few.