One of the latest exhibits at the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum is a hopeful look into a future of survivalists.
The Possible Worlds exhibition depicts the possible future of human evolution as we adapt to disasters around us. The exhibit may have been inspired partially by fear, but artist Sylvia Ziemann said she hopes it is ultimately viewed from an optimistic stance. The buildings she designed in her exhibit were a response to specific types of disasters, but she said not in a "fatalistic" way.
"Not in a dystopic way, it's more hopeful. We do get together, and we do rebuild and work things out, figuring out better ways to live. A lot of my work is based on how I see the world or what I think is important to think about," said Ziemann. "Work that I did prior to this one was a lot about how media affects us in our homes, and how we protect ourselves and lock our doors."
After seeing regular images of violence and terrorism, she said it appeared to her to be a message of heightened panic that was always being broadcast. It began with the event on Sept. 11, 2001, and continued from there.
"There was this heightened panic about the environment, global warming, tsunamis were happening. It seemed like there was a lot of panic in the air, and it seemed like everyday there was some kind of new hurricane or something terrible."
She asked herself how we would all live after these disasters, particularly after seeing the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
"I just started to think about futuristic buildings, and that because of global warming, at a certain point everyone will be touched somewhere from something," said Ziemann. "In Saskatchewan I think we're pretty safe here from a lot of stuff, except winters. I started to think about, 'what if the grid breaks down?' We live in a cold climate here and if the heat goes off, the pipes will freeze and one thing leads to another and we're in big trouble."
With drawings for the buildings' plans hanging on the gallery walls, the buildings are brought to life in small-scale miniatures as well. The exhibit features video and audio from inside the structures that demonstrate a little about the people living inside and the personalities they might have, she added.
The exhibit includes the physical structures and new houses for the people of the future, but Ziemann has also included detailed drawings, almost like blueprints explaining what everything would be used for.
"I'd like to leave that building stuff to the engineers. I'm an artist. I think I could build something if push came to shove, if everything had blown away I could probably build something with some power just from the research I've done," Ziemann said, but she isn't sure her designs would entirely hold up to scrutiny.
Ziemann is currently completing her master's at the University of Regina, and she previously completed her bachelor of fine arts at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. She has been a working artist for 25 years, and said she has been able to find the time to complete her master's now that her daughters are teenagers and more independent. She will complete those studies at the end of 2014.
Ziemann said she grew up with Depression-era parents who never threw anything away, and some of that childhood may have influenced the way everything gets used for some new purpose in Possible Worlds.
"I think my dad didn't throw out a single plastic bag or elastic band. I kind of grew up with that idea of recycling," said Ziemann.
She doesn't really throw things away either, and is careful to compost and give used goods to the Salvation Army. She said they are still a typical middle-class family with a home and a couple of cars.
"If I were to really embrace the whole thing, I would be living in the woods right now with a good wood stove and hunt my food. I would love a cabin in the woods, but there are no woods here, so this will do for now."
She has done a lot of work in the miniature format, so her sculptures in the exhibit are something she has spent a lot of time on.
"I do like to mix it up a bit, because for the longest time I was painting and then I just had nothing more to say with painting, so I started working sculpturally. Then I found my way to painting about the sculptures. I like working in all kinds of mediums. I find it keeps my interest up."
She said she doesn't plan everything out for a project. She would like to, but often finds herself working on a series of pieces and then uses a combination of those previous works to complete the final piece.
The exhibit runs in the art gallery's secondary room until March 22.
