We are pleased to welcome Laura Grier to the RMG as part of the RBC Emerging Artist Residency Program. To learn more about Laura’s artistic practice visit their profile.
During their residency, Laura will be working on project called Ǝrįhtł’é k’éíhtsi: K’enda, which is a word they created using their knowledge of the Sahtú Dene language to describe their artistic practice: printmaking. In this blog post, Laura explains what they have been thinking about lately and what they will be working on in the RBC Artist Incubator Lab.
Recently, I have been completely immersed in these research books on the bear lake language that I managed to obtain. The books attempt to explain the structure of this northern dene language, a task that took several decades to realize. One of the members of the community that was consulted was my biological grandfather, who I never had the chance to meet.
This has been a really complex year, and as I navigate through this city (Toronto), I try to find new homes in new things. I am away from my home, but I can still find traces of it in words, in land, in stories, and in everyday things. Things that speak to this urban displacement, and to some extent, urban relationality.
Right now, my practice is about looking towards the friends that live in this medium that I love. In print there are many, but the key elements are wood, rock, and metal. I want to turn to ways of practicing printmaking that make use of relational methods and considers the tools and the “things” that are behind, and in-between, the making. I want to work with wood more and find ways that they can be used to create patterns. During the period of my residency, I want to push wood to create similar marks from mark-making drawings through carving and print without a press. By doing this, I have a chance to play with patterns that can be repeated to form imagery that then becomes a fragmentation from its original mark. Like making words, there is a root first that then branches or grows off to newer unknown places.
I look forward to virtual interactions and onsite studio sessions. This work is flexible, and I will be in the studio on occasion to do some carving and printing, while using online resources that are accessible to folks offsite.
Connect with Laura!
To learn when Laura will be in the RBC Artist Incubator Lab or hosting virtual studio sessions, follow Laura and the RMG on social media.
Join them on Instagram Live on October 16 at 2pm for a Welcome to the Studio Artist Talk and on November 23 at 7pm for a Residency Check-in. Follow Laura and the RMG to catch these fun, casual visits with the artist. They will also be hosting a virtual printmaking workshop on Zoom. Stay tuned to learn more!
The RBC Emerging Artist Residency Program is generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation and the RBC Emerging Artist Project.
