A set of boots, some plywood, and old pieces of taxidermy were on display at the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum in hopes of creating conversation among those in attendance.
Dubbed the Hide exhibit, which has been on display at the EAGM since May 23, it contains work from David Diviney of Nova Scotia and Jamie Wright of Manitoba. Their creations explore man and nature, but are also intertwined with an emphasis on hunting. Diviney was on hand at the EAGM on July 31 to talk about his work.
"The things I work with and the way I construct things are familiar enough that people know what they are. When they're brought together they evoke a sense of narrative I hope makes one ask themselves what they're looking at, and where they've seen it before," said Diviney during his presentation. "Once they see all the objects in a place such as this in tandem with another artist, it starts to bring forth connections from one's own experience."
Diviney said theatre is a big part of the whole experience. When walking through the exhibit, people will notice hardly anything hanging off the walls. Instead, the pieces are leaning up against them like a stage prop.
"The idea of tragedy, comedy and all those ideas are things that surface within the work," he explained, suggesting some of the imagery he creates is ominous and funny. At one point he went as far as saying it's "dumb." No matter what visitors to the gallery see, he said above all, he hopes some type of conversation is being held amongst them.
At one point during the presentation, a young woman pointed to one of Diviney's pieces, consisting of over a dozen pairs of boots lining the bottom of what appears to be the side of a shed in the forest. She said with the inclusion of eyes in the holes that were scattered across the piece of wood, the effect would have been much creepier, without them however, the piece results with a nice balance of curiousness and comedy.
Diviney agreed with her statement, and added the concept of sight, or a lack thereof, was something that can be found in his work.
"Hollow," a 12x12 square made from plywood and a stretched wool ski mask, with some corks dotting its surface, Diviney explained represents a hollow mind, with hollow ideas.
"There's often a bodily reference as well," he said about his work, noting eyeholes as an example. "Absence and what's not there, is equally as important as what's physically present."
When it comes to materials, it's often a matter of what's lying around Diviney's workshop at home, and what he can fit into his cart during a trip to Canadian Tire or a walk down the street. A coyote that appears to be jumping into a hat is connected by string to a cinder block a few feet away. The coyote is, of course, a piece of taxidermy that was no longer being used. He said he sometimes has a preconceived idea as to what he wants to create, and on other occasions, he collects what he sees and figures out what he wants to make after.
