Planetary artist’s Leah Petrucci and Mirelle Perron challenge you to produce an artwork using four words—clock, shadow, encounter and dream—inspired from their artworks Studies in Artistic Relations (#1 and #2) on display in our Ring Gallery. Use these words to help unleash your creativity and inspire an artwork of your own. Share your creations by tagging @ContemporaryCalgary on instagram using #FourWordsChallenge3. 

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

(Studies in Artistic Relations #1)
Petrucci’s hand-blown glass orbs act as stand-ins for ten artists occupying the Collider artist residency (the number of artists in-residence at any given time in the program). Mounted on a metal disk with magnets, the work recalls the spatial organization of the “Grotto” where the studios were conducted, while the orbs interact with one another in innumerable permutations and combinations suggesting myriad avenues for collision, discovery and invention.

(Studies in Artistic Relations #2)
The two artists reinvent their encounters with one another and other artists that inhabited the Collider studios while in residency. As stand-ins for each artist, Petrucci’s hand-blown glass orbs employed Calgary’s sun shining through the large windows of the Planetarium to make cyanotypes studies of likely attractions.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Mireille Perron

Mireille Perron is a visual artist, critical writer, and educator. She was born in Tiohtiá:ke/Montréal, QC. Since 1989, she lives and works in Moh-kíns-tsis/Calgary, AB. Perron is the founder of the Laboratory of Feminist Pataphysics (2000), a social experiment that masquerades as works of art/events. Her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions in Canada, Europe, and the United States. Most recent examples of the range of her work includes the solo exhibition, The Anatomy of a Glass Menagerie: Altaglass, Nickle Galleries, Calgary, 2019, and the essay, Four Revolutionary Moves: Dancing with Craft, co-authored with Amy Gogarty, Studio: Craft and Design in Canada, 2019. Perron is Professor Emerita at the Alberta University of the Arts.

Leah Petrucci

Leah graduated with distinction from the Alberta College of Art and Design in 2010 earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a major in Glass. Leah was raised in Alberta on an acreage just outside of Calgary. All through her upbringing family was an important influence in her life. Her strong sense of family has been a huge inspiration throughout her art with a particular emphasis on childhood memories.

Currently, Leah rents studio space at various companies in Calgary and surrounding cities as well as works out of her home-based studio. Leah’s work explores ideas of identity and how it relates to childhood and family.  She plays with pattern and colour to evoke memories of toys, games, and a childlike sense of fun, space and freedom. Her art often seeks the balance between youthful whimsy and the deep roots of family and place.

Leah and her husband have five wonderful children who are the highlight of their life! The beautiful chaos and creativity of her everyday life consistently find their way into her work.