April - May 2016
Creative Practices Institute, Edmonton, AB.
Kasie Campbell
Along with being an artist, Campbell is also a mother. Although there is often a stigma to being a mother and an artist, Campbell is able to straddle the dual identities. Her works are not explicitly about being mother, rather, they are about bridging the two identities and showcase how the experience of being a mother and artist has impacted her view on the body. They work in tandem to create that sense of uncomfortableness and bodily empathy that Campbell aims for in her work.
Campbell uses flesh toned nylon and cotton batting to create works that resemble the human form but aren’t quite right. When viewing the works, one becomes more aware of their own body as they look at the tight binding of the almost human forms. The viewer is drawn to the sculptures but does not want to get too close as they are both grotesque yet beautiful at the same time. From when they first walk through What is Known of Old and Long Familiar, the viewer will not be able to escape the uncanniness and uncomfortableness of Campbell’s sculptures.
What is Known of Old and Long Familiar is the first solo exhibition for Edmonton based artist Kasie Campbell. The exhibition was also planned to act as a satellite event for the Mapping the Maternal: Art, Ethics, and the Anthropocene colloquium organized and hosted by Natalie Loveless at the University of Alberta in May 2016.
