New SAAG exhibit deals with human relationships with nature

By Steffanie Costigan - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on May 13, 2023.

Art is a form of many things; our ancestors used a form of art to express and share stories through hieroglyphics, drawings, statues, and more.
A Lethbridge artist is featuring her gathers-inspired art at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery in an exhibition that opens Saturday.
April Matisz, a local artist, shared the type of materials she used in creating her display and the meaning behind her work.
“Well, for this exhibition, I am using installation and collage. There’s also some painting and drawing elements and some ceramic work. I would say that this exhibition deals with human relationships to nature. And I’m interested in the way humans have evolved in concert with the environment, and so a lot of the works here address a sort of deep connection, a deep evolutionary connection that we have to the land,” she said.
Matisz’s exhibit is called Gathering Near and Far, Still. The exhibit opens to the public Saturday with a reception from 7 to 9 p.m.
Matisz on Thursday talked about her inspiration behind her work and the reflection of gathers.
“I’m thinking more about as a woman, my role would have been more about gathering, and there’s something about the act of gathering that it’s a very it’s a physical act of searching, of knowing the landscape, that you’re living in. But then there’s this sort of metaphorical sense in which we’re all still searching and gathering,” Matisz shared.
SAAG is also hosting an exhibit of artwork from varying local high school students called Arts Alive and Well and it will open with a reception Saturday that runs from 2 until 4 p.m. Art’s Live and Well runs until June 17.
Jeremy Franchuk, engagement manager of SAAG, said SAAG is excited to be hosting Matisz, and Art’s Alive is the 46th annual exhibit they have had displaying student artwork.
“It’s just a really exciting set of shows. April is an artist we’re really excited to be hosting here. She was a featured artist at our recent art auction and has some work in the online auction that’s currently on until May 20th, on the levisonlineauctions.com – just interesting selection of works on display.
Admission to SAAG is free until June 24 thanks to the sponsorship of ATB. SAAG will also be hosting an Articulations event with Matisz on June 3 from 2 to 3 p.m.
Matisz said she recognizes, like our ancestors, we are still gathering and searching in the world.
“That’s the way we understand the world is sort of making stories and narratives out of our world, and that act is still very prevalent with us today. And I think that we are still, in a sense, always gathering and searching. Today we’re searching for different things we’re searching for meaning. We’re searching to find our place in the world,” she said.
Her exhibit runs until June 24.
Also opening on Saturday is #rainthatstuck by Lorne Power. It’s “an ongoing, participatory project asking anyone who is interested to reveal a story from a time when they were caught in the rain. Participants who wish to contribute to the project are mailed a postcard featuring a photograph of a panel van with a mysterious red liquid scattered across it and emblazoned with the hashtag, “#rainthatstuck,” says SAAG.
“Submitted stories about being caught in the rain are written as a caption on an Instagram post along with a photograph of the participant with their postcard. The library gallery space features some of the mailed postcards along with a diptych of the van photograph and a cut-up poem created by Lorne Power of previously submitted stories.”

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