Saturday, July 31, 2021 to Saturday, August 28, 2021

Gallery 101 is pleased to present Behind  Between  Beyond
A multi media installation of artwork by Miya Turnbull and Roxanne Lafleur

Opening (In-person): Saturday June 31. 2-5 pm
Artist talk (Zoom): Friday August 13. 6-7pm EST. Register here

Gallery hours:
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday noon-5 PM
Thursday 1:30-5PM
Please see COVID Protocols below

Curatorial Statement
Behind  Between  Beyond is a two-person exhibition exploring personal narratives that use masks, drawing, bookmaking, video, and photography to move beyond usual tropes of self-portraiture to self-representations of multiple states of being. Rooted in Miya Turnbull’s mixed-Japanese Canadian, and Roxanne Lafleur’s Northern Franco-Ontarian identities, these works resonate together in quiet, powerful conversation, inviting viewers into nuanced explorations of personhood, one’s sense of place, and belonging.

Miya describes her practice in mask-making as a way to examine the multiplicities of ‘self’, particularly in states of in-betweenness. Some masks explicitly explore Miya’s Japanese cultural identity through the use of traditional to contemporary Japanese motifs and pop culture imagery, while other masks explore identity in a broader sense of multi-faceted personhood, through the layering of masks on top of masks, misaligning the facial features, or using the inside space of the masks. The digital realm offers further explorations into obfuscation and blurring, through layered videos and photographs.

Masks appear in Roxanne Lafleur’s work De mère en mer (From Mother to Sea) through large, delicately rendered drawings of a radiotherapy mask used in her mother’s cancer treatments. Her meditations on fragile and ephemeral states of being flow from the masks to two hand bound artist books. One book is a large scale French language book/installation focusing on loss, memory, and connections to the waters of Northern Ontario and the St.Lawrence River. A second English language, photo-based artist book takes readers on an airplane journey exploring themes of nostalgia, displacement, belonging, and grief. At the core of Roxanne’s work is the importance of recognizing our fundamental need to belong and to maintain strong relationships with each other and with nature to ensure the well-being of all.

RoxanneLaFleur.ca
MiyaTurnbull.com

Roxanne Lafleur would like acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.
Miya Turnbull acknowledges the support of Arts Nova Scotia.