Colleen Heslin and Vanessa Brown
walking and falling
falling and walking
walking and falling
March 21–April 18, 2015
Opening: Saturday March 21st, 2–6pm
ESP is pleased to present a two-person exhibition of new work by Colleen Heslin and Vanessa Brown. Working in tandem from two separate cities, both artists’ work share an interest in abstraction with echoes of modernism, re-working and cycling material off-cuts into new projects. For each artist, new forms are generated through cutting material, collage, assemblage, and working with both positive and negative space. The material qualities of metal and fabric generate a curious cross over, where metal subsumes a fragility and stretched fabric becomes concrete.
The poetic cadence of the exhibition title calls on lyrics from Laurie Anderson, describing walking as repeated gestures of falling and catching yourself in your next step. This lyrical sentiment reflects on both artist’s studio practices and their on-going working relationships with materials in their work. Heslin’s abstract use of domestic fibres mimics a photographic print-like quality, formed with simple dying and staining mechanics, the effect of which prompts questions of digital production. Brown’s metal sculptures possess a paper-like quality in form through construction. Her use of colour brings forward painterly qualities while her forms maintain a tension through her use of layering flat planes. Loosely echoing each other’s process, Heslin and Brown have shared images, patterns, and texts to create work that volleys back and forth across practices and disciplines.
Colleen Heslin is an artist and independent curator based in Vancouver and Montreal. With an MFA in painting from Concordia University and a BFA in photography from Emily Carr University, Heslin’s work explores medium crossovers between painting, sculpture, fibres and photography. Her work has been exhibited and published in Canada, USA, and Europe with recent solo exhibitions of new work in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto. Heslin was the winner of the 2013 RBC Painting Competition.
Vanessa Brown is a Vancouver-based artist who works predominantly in sculpture and painting. She graduated with a BFA from Emily Carr University in 2013 and was the recipient of the Chancellor’s Award. She recently participated in The Universe and Other Systems residency at the Banff Centre (2014) and has exhibited throughout Canada and in Germany.
