CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Jordan Beaulieu and Damien Worth are putting their passion for P.E.I. on display.
The work of the two artists is being presented in exhibitions at The Gallery @ the Guild in Charlottetown. Presented by this town is small and The Guild, their exhibitions run until Sept. 30.
Worth’s work is inspired by his experience of living in a rural community. When he moved from Halifax, N.S., to Belfast, P.E.I., five years ago, there was an immediate change in his art practice.
“There was a lot of repetition as I looked at rural activities. And, as I spent more time (in that community) the idea of isolation became a really big theme. So, the premise of the show is to look at locations, objects and scenarios of isolation,” says Worth.
A case in point is “Harbour Islands”, a collage on infinity board series where Worth has gathered images of P.E.I. harbours from Google and “mashed them together, creating a new community entirely based out of harbours.
“It’s the idea of rural identity and its relationship to community and its relationship to isolation. So, this theme of isolation and transformation into community plays into my work.”
In “Deity (The devourer of fields)” tiny, colourful images of snowmobiles are arranged in a pattern that resembles an ink block test.
“Most people who live in rural P.E.I. know the roar of Ski-Doos, mostly trespassing on fields but, sometimes, not so much,” says Worth.
This time the artist was inspired by thinking about the subculture that exists surrounding snowmobiles on P.E.I.
“It’s almost like worship, this exploration of rural landscape on very expensive machines. So, you’ve got all the gear, you get all dressed up and you ride on these expensive machines. It’s kind of like an insider club that exists.”
Beaulieu’s work is also inspired by Canada’s smallest province.
Originally from Montague and now living in Stratford, she’s returned home after studying at Concordia University in Montreal for the past six years.
“This is my first show on P.E.I. It feels very nice. I’m very happy,” says Beaulieu, whose work includes a collection of recent drawings, book works and a video.
“Outside” is a sequence of images inspired by the construction of the Plan B highway in October 2012 when citizens protested the realignment of Route 1. The protest group, which became known as Stop Plan B, monitored construction throughout the project and returned in October 2015 to plant trees along the new alignment.
“It made me think of relocation and having to leave a place. I did the drawings first, so I wanted to make a story out of it,” she says.
“4 U” is a video of an artist working on a painting. There’s a little accordion book that comes with it containing stills from the video.
“It’s a long joke that takes nine minutes. And the drawings make it more fun, more playful, a little more of a fairy tale,” laughs Beaulieu, adding readers can check out the video at https://jordanbeaulieu.com/for-you.
Although she won’t give the joke away, she says the project was inspired by an art professor who was at a bar after class when someone asked her to draw a picture for them.
“So, she drew a big four and (the letter) u."
