Sculpture Blog - Page 3 of 7 - Kim Henigman Bruce

February 29, 2016September 6, 2023

Disbound – Education for Girls

Exhibition Notes: Disbound – Education for Girls
April 21 – May 27, 2016
Harcourt House
3rd Floor, 10215 – 112 Street
Edmonton, AB T5K 1M7
Phone: 780.426.4180

Books have always played a role in my life. My mom, an avid reader, passed on her love of books to me. When I touch a book and I am conscious of a world that exists only within those pages. A self contained world whose influence is in how I interpret the words. Everything we are and everything we know about the world is contained in a book somewhere. Books are precious.

I do not consider myself to be a “book artist” in the true sense. I do not create books. I am a sculptor that disassembles, deconstructs books and marries them with found objects. I play with puns, double entendre, symbolism and satire and there are so many when it comes to books. For example, the work in Jackets. Books have jackets just as jackets are articles of clothing for us. Some of the pieces where created to emulate “jackets”. Clothing is a reflection of who we are and books help shape who we are.

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My statements are subjective and have open-ended interpretation. I want the viewer to be able to bring their own experiences to the work. I want you to find meaning in my work that is significance only to you. In that way the work becomes yours, personal and intimate.

Kim Bruce- Zero- Encaustic, mixed media, 8.5"w x 7"h x 2"d The first in my series dealing with books was called Open Book. The work was created with wood where I emulated an open book with focus on the central spine. A strong vertical line is prevalent in a lot of my work and has to do with having strength – backbone. In essence strength of character.

As the work progressed it took a turn and has to do with my process. I work intuitively, spontaneously, totally in the moment without much of a plan. I don’t use a sketchbook to record or work out ideas. I let the work, work itself out. Some take longer than others to find their voice, some never do, others can’t keep their mouth shut. It is through this process of intentional intuitiveness that I realized I was starting to seal the books shut, closing them off, making them inaccessible, unable to open. That was when I realized what the work was truly about.

I was using books as my canvas because books are knowledge and knowledge empowers. I looked for a book term to describe what I was doing. I chose Disbound.

DisBound is an exhibition about education for girls. It’s about choice. It’s about girls, and boys too, but mostly girls, who, due to tradition or religion, don’t get to choose. They are married off as soon as they hit puberty and often left to fend for themselves and their children because of war, strife or circumstance.

Gender inequality exists. It exists in Canada, the USA, throughout the western world, but is most prevalent in developing nations. I want to bring awareness to the importance of education and the role it has in shaping future generations. If girls are educated and given choices, they can influence the world.

DisBound is a bookbinding term that means to remove the book pages from its bindings; I use it as a metaphor for removing girls from the bonds of tradition so they can get an education. Disbound should not be confused with unbound, which, is a bookbinding term used to describe pages that were never bound to begin with.

As with all my work, this series of books, references the dichotomy of my early life expectations to conform to a traditional woman’s role, when in fact, a reality for me, was the need to be self-sufficient and support myself as an entrepreneur and business owner. These contradictions allow me to expose my private self through veiled metaphor, creating objects significant beyond function. The under-laying message – the essence of my work – speaks to the roles and rights of girls and women.

I truly hope you will find meaning in the work.

January 27, 2016September 6, 2023

Materials Matter

I am so honoured to be included in my first group show at Seager Gray Gallery. The exhibition is called “Materials Matter”. Donna did a really nice write up about my work and all the artists in the catalogue

The show runs January 30 – February 28, 2016
Reception for the artists:
Saturday, February 6, 5:30 – 7:30pm

Wish I could be there, but if you’re in the San Francisco area maybe you’ll drop in.

Material Matters, Seager Gray Gallery, 2016 – Written by Donna Seager
Material Matters, the third annual exhibition exploring artists and their media is being presented at Seager Gray Gallery in Mill Valley. The exhibition includes works by 16 artists working in cut paper, glass, weaving, clay, polymer, found photos, paint, salvaged steel, casein, charcoal, wood, altered book, steel, thread, cast lead crystal, and video.

kim-bruce-materials-matter-catalogue — Click to enlarge text

The artists included are Lucrezia Bieler, Joe Brubaker, Kim Bruce, Squeak Carnwath, Lia Cook, Stephen Paul Day, Ellen George, Andrew Hayes, Margaret Keelan, Lisa Kokin, Ted Larsen, Sibylle Peretti, Alexander Rohrig, Jane Rosen, Tim Tate and Barbara Wildenboer.

January 1, 2016September 6, 2023

How I Got Here

Exhibition Notes: How I Got Here
January 5 – 28, 2016
Western GM Drumheller Gallery
80 Veterans Way
Drumheller, AB
Phone 403-823-1371

It was very exciting to be offered the Drumheller Library Gallery to exhibit book sculptures from my Disbound proposal. Working with books has found a home with me and to be able to exhibit them in a library setting is extra special. The gallery is a beautiful space but the hanging system wouldn’t work to show my wall mounted book sculptures. So rather than forego the opportunity to exhibit, Janet, the library representative, worked with me to come up with alternative work that was compatible with the hanging system.

We all go through life in a progressive way, one step leading to another. This progression is very true for an art practice. One thing always leads to another, we learn and apply and move forward. Looking back on my work from the last 15 years I started to see how I got here, and it occurred to me that perhaps a retrospective was in order.

Having this exhibit in Drumheller is particularly fitting and special because Drumheller is where my grandmother and grandfather, who immigrated separately, met and settled. It’s also where my mom and uncle were born and raised. When my grandfather died of black lung from working in the coal mine in Newcastle, my grandmother moved the family to Calgary.

Woman's Work, 2010 Encaustic, false Hair on board 20" x 30" (22.75" x 32.75" Framed) — Woman’s Work, 2010
Encaustic, false Hair on board
20″ x 30″ (22.75″ x 32.75″ Framed)

They say all art is autobiographical and on some level I find the work I’m presenting here to be almost overtly self referential. Starting with Family of Four which is a portrait of my maternal grandmother and then my mom in Being Thirteen. I comment on my exposure to religion in Class of 64, Saves 9, and Pegged. My experiences with being an entrepreneur since the 80’s is reflected in Glass Ceiling and Woman’s Work. And I make comments on the traditional roles of women in What Became and Casting the Net.

Even though this work reflects my life it also speaks to and for others who have shared similar experiences. That is what I believe is important about art; it’s a voice that conveys a message that not only helps people to feel that they are not alone, but one that speaks for those that have no voice. I am drawn to subjective statements and open-ended interpretation which allows others to bring their own experiences to my artwork.

Just Me, encaustic medium, just and found object on a book, 5.5" x 4" x 5.25" © Kim Bruce — Just Me, encaustic medium, just and found object on a book, 5.5″ x 4″ x 5.25″ © Kim Bruce

Understanding my past has enabled me to follow my voice to my current work with books. I use books as my canvas because books are knowledge and knowledge empowers. My books are unbound and immersed in hot beeswax. In this state I am able to distort and manipulate the shapes and seal the books shut. This closing off of the books is symbolic of education being denied to girls, and boys too, but mostly girls.

On a whole my work is full of visual puns, double entendre, symbolism and satire. It references the dichotomy of my early life expectations to conform to a traditional woman’s role, when in fact, reality for me, was the need to be self-sufficient and support myself as an entrepreneur and business owner. These contradictions allow me to expose my private self through veiled metaphor creating objects significant beyond function. The underlying message – the essence of my work – speaks to the roles and rights of girls and women.

September 30, 2015September 6, 2023

Alternative Spaces

Alternative Spaces – Group show

Artists include:
Jason Bartziokas
Bill Bewick
Kim Bruce (me)
Martinho Correia
Elena Evanoff
Mark Holiday
Dale Kirschenman
Karen Klassen
Barry Lorne
Darcy Lundgren
Mychael Maier
Annette Sicotte
Roseanne West
Frances Vettergreen

WHEN
Friday October 16th 3 – 9 pm
Saturday October 17th 12 – 6 pm

WHERE
239 – 29 Avenue NE Calgary, AB

September 9, 2015September 6, 2023

How I Burnt Down the House

I was in my studio with the start of another piece in my hand when all of a sudden a voice in my head scream STOP! WTF are you doing!!! Three exclamation points; 3!

Right there and then, I turned off the light and closed the door and walked away.

I didn’t feel a lot of anxiety about it, because lately, being in the studio was more painful than not. I thought, if that’s it, that’s all I got, then that’s all I got. I turned my focus more to my web design business, and then there was that eBook I wanted to write. I could keep myself busy, life as I know it isn’t over, is it?

Then I started a subliminal exploration. I looked at other artists’ work and made mental note of what spoke to me. Why did it speak? What did it say? How does that relate to my practice? Only in hindsight am I conscious of those questions. At the time I figured my role was that of art appreciator, because if I couldn’t make art anymore I could still appreciate others art and maybe I could become some sort of art advocate. Or something?

A few times I went back into the studio and tried out a few ideas but the process was a struggle. I lost interest and found my own work was boring me. Not a good sign. I know now that I was going through a process, a process of elimination. I was throwing things at the wall to see what stuck, only nothing stuck, or so it seemed.

I’ve known for a while that I needed to get my work to the next level and if I couldn’t, then I have obviously reached my pinnacle and that’s that, it’s over, I don’t have anything more. And oddly enough, like I said, I was okay with that, because I’d rather stop making art all together than make mediocre art. Talk about being all or nothing!

Then I did something that I didn’t know I was doing until now, while writing this actually. I did what they call “burning down the house”. It’s a process where you analyze your practice to pull out the strongest parts, the parts that resonate. Identify those and move forward with them. Okay; but up came everything. Every bit and piece, literally, every bit of fabric, every piece of this and that, everything I had; photographic images, all the patterns, thread, found objects, old work. EVERYTHING, was in my studio and I tried to make new work from ALL of it. This was my stuff, and my stuff, was painful.

I turned off the lights and closed the door, again, only this time it was metaphorically. It was time to forget, forget what I was doing, what I was saying, forget it all. Let it go. I’m done with that. Good bye and good riddance. Ah, ha, I burnt down my house! Because looking back was preventing me from going forward. Say that again…

Looking back was preventing me from going forward.

A while later, a day, a week, I don’t recall; I stepped outside with my favorite, a cup of coffee. I was just standing there taking in the woods, the smell of the forest, when a question popped into my head.

Inner Voice: What do you like doing the most?

Me, without hesitation: I like the act of twisting a book, hot with wax, into a shape to see what happens. I like starting not knowing where I’m going.

Inner Voice: Then why don’t you go and do just that.

So I did. I did ONE thing. I answered ONE question.

Sometimes you need to withdraw, closed the door, shy away from social events and media. I needed to incubate. I needed to burn down the house and only by burning down my house could I build a new one based on a the existing foundation.

Tweet This: Just do ONE thing. ONE thing naturally leads to another.~Kim Bruce http://ctt.ec/66_J8+

June 15, 2015September 6, 2023

Baby Jesus – Figurative Show

Please join us for Aaron Sidorenko’s first curated group figurative show!

It’s a pop up show running from June 24 to 27

It’s a cross section of what’s happening in local figurative works.
Artists include:

Daniel Audet
Elena Bushan
Kim Bruce << me :) Martinio Correia Milo Dlouhy Elena Evanoff Marcia Harris Karen Klassen Zack Lowe Mychael Maier Paul McGrath Vanessa Nelson Gary Olson Jean Pederson Robert Pierce Ryan Postic Aaron Sidorenko Rich Théroux Mark Vazquez-Mackay And special guest Paul Stady Opening reception Friday June 26, 5:00-8:00 Hope to see you there. Kim Christine Klassen Gallery 200 - 321 50 Avenue SE Calgary, AB T2G 2B3 telephone 403 262 1880 email info@christineklassengallery.com Tuesday to Saturday 10 - 5 or by appointment 403 262 1880

June 5, 2015September 6, 2023

How Not to Go to Art School, But Go to Art School

Or how I went to art school by not going to art school.

It was 1976 I just finished my first year in design school. During this time I was exposed to art, real art, for the first time. One pivotal moment was seeing a showcase with a few pieces of a Mount Royal College student who had committed suicide. His story and art really had an impact on me. The other pivotal moment was the drawing class…I wanted that.

I contacted ACAD, the Alberta College of Art and Design, and asked about transferring and if I would get credit for some of my first year of design school. They would credit for one or two classes, but I would have to start fresh in the first year. Bummer, but it made sense.

Armed with my due diligence, I approached my dad to talk about transferring. Sigh.

This was 40 years ago, so I don’t remember his exact words save one, no. Needless to say I was disappointed. I went back to finish my diploma in interior design and went on to running my own firm and employing 12 designers, architectural draftspeople and support staff.

I think what played out for me this is a very common scenario. Good kid does what she’s told. Good kid didn’t know there were options, like student loans and going it alone. But the good kid was lucky, very lucky to have had her parents pay for a college education when most kids in the hood never contemplated going to college.

Fast forward to the mid 80’s. I started with Richard Halliday’s figure drawing class. Yes, I became a night school student. Then Bev Tosh’s figure drawing class. Then Katie Ohe’s sculpture class. The list goes on for the next 15 years. My last teacher and mentor was late John Brocke (figure painting).

It was during my time being mentored by John, in the late 90’s, that I started thinking about going to ACAD again, this time as a mature student, part time. I talked to admissions and got all the details and an application. There were lots of hoops, portfolio to make, work to create so I could make the portfolio. Oh my! And a business to run, OH MY! I started asking myself…

Was I getting hung up on having the legitimacy of a degree?
Could I afford it? Tuition is expensive.
I had a design firm to run, could I take the time away to go to school part time?

In the end I decided not to apply. And when I mentioned this to John Brocke, his comment confirmed my decision was the right one for me. So what did John say…?

He said that I wouldn’t thrive in art school, because I had more life experience that most of the instructors.

So I never received an arts degree. I went to art school to learn what I needed to learn at the time I needed to learn it. I became self-taught with a number of talented instructors and mentors.

There’s a number of pros and cons of obtaining an art education the way I did. I’ll go into that in the next post.

Photo credit: http://dismagazine.com/

May 6, 2015September 6, 2023

Submission Fees Part 2

I am fundamentally opposed to paying submission fees, as I stated in part 1 of this rant. I understand that the curator or juror has to be paid and that the gallery has overhead and bills to pay, but, hey, so does the artist.

It also used to be that the gallery would pay the return shipping costs. These days the artist must incur costs to ship their work both ways.

In Canada a number of public (not for profit) galleries and artist run centers will pay Carfac fees, but that is dependent on whether or not they have funding. Carfac is an arts advocacy association that has put together a fee schedule on what are fair fees for artists to show, provide workshops and lectures. They even took the National Gallery all the way to the Supreme Court fighting for artist copyrights. They won.

Arts and culture is dramatically underfunded, so if a government grant doesn’t come your way costs will fall to the artist to pay. The new rule seems to be if you want to show your work be prepared to foot the bill. Some exhibitions are worth the fee because of their high profile.

I’m not saying that public galleries are to blame. Obtaining funding is very competitive. The galleries rely heavily on volunteers and seasoned grant writers to compete for these funds.

My rule is not to pay entry fees, submission fees or whatever they may be called. Recently I was invited by a curator to submit to a juried show. In the prospectus it indicated a “participation fee” of $30 USD. I thought that meant I was going to be paid $30 for showing my work but alas, it was me that was to pay them. I was disappointed because I wanted to “participate” in the show but did not want to break my rule of not paying fees to do so. This is what I did:

I wrote the curator and explained that the “participation fee” was misleading as it sounded like the fee was being paid to the artist. I asked if they would waive the fee and they did. Don’t be afraid to ask. Perhaps if more of us did…

Perhaps it would be prudent in the never ending line up of creative and gifted artists to just say NO and ask, “Will the artist be paid?”

December 31, 2014September 6, 2023

A Reluctant Feminist but an Enthusiastic…

I’ve seen and heard the term and have even called myself a reluctant feminist. But the word feminist or feminism, to me, says that all people do not exist in a natural state as equal, which is why I am reluctant.

I believe in equal rights for all people. Feminism is simply one part of that. It is, however, the part that I have the most experience with; being a woman that considers herself equal.

woman's_ work_rev-noframe — Woman’s Work, Encaustic, False Hair on board, 20″ x 30″

It bothers me that feminism has gotten a bad rap over the years. You know. That a feminist is a man hating, bra burning woman who spits at men who open doors for them. Although, many radical feminists put the blame for inequality of women squarely on the shoulders of the patriarch society. I’m not one of them.

So I thought I would do some research to see if there was something besides feminism that would cover what my work is about. I also thought it would be nice if there was just one philosophy that would cover equality across the board. One that doesn’t need clarifying or defending.

I found Humanism, Egalitarianism and a little about Equalism. They are all good philosophies worth further study. But after reading this article Equalism: The Feminist Alternative?, I agree that there isn’t just one movement or philosophy that covers the needs of specific groups. I thinks that’s why philosophies like Humanism and Egalitarianism have so many types and sub-categories. We fight for what we believe in. For you that could be gay rights or like Malala Yousafzai; education for girls (something dear to my heart).

When I look at my work and the series I have developed over the last decade or more, I see work with a feminist skew. I sometimes have a hard time accepting the women’s issues that my work discusses. Maybe my art is my way of working through the facts of my life. Maybe I’m just pissed that there are issues there at all. But I do know that my work mirrors my experiences.

After all this reading I’ve come to the conclusion that it is not the word feminism, reluctant or otherwise, that is important. It is what the movement stands for and we all have to decide for ourselves what that is.

Laced, Beeswax, ribbon on a book, 8"w x 3"h x 5.25"d — Laced, Beeswax, ribbon on a book, 8″w x 3″h x 5.25″d

My work is a continuing conversation that I have with myself. It’s a voice that speaks for people that identify with my work. It’s a voice that speaks up for rights and education of women because that’s what I am, that’s what I know and that’s what I believe in.

September 30, 2014September 6, 2023

My Social Media Rules

You can search Google and come up with literally millions of websites that tell you all about being a success on social media sites. It can be overwhelming and it is.

So I decided to make my own social media rules. This is how I interact on the one social media site that I seem to do okay on, Facebook. And by okay I mean people actually talk to me.

Here are my social media rules.

If you post or share an image without saying something about it, I assume that you think the image is worth a 1000 words and my comment isn’t necessary.
The most I will do in this case is “like” but only if I truly do like it.
I may share an image you posted but rules #1 and #2 apply.
If you do happen to say something about an image you posted and if I want to share the image I will make a point of commenting on your post because otherwise it feels like I’m stealing.
I have started random acts of sharing from my feed on my business page. It’s hard since most artists don’t post the title, size and medium of their work. It’s always just one of the aforementioned so when I find an artist that includes all that and a link to their website I get very excited.
Speaking of links. I will share a poster image of your exhibition if you give a link to the venue.
I started finding links and pasting them in the comment area of posts that lack them, but stopped thinking perhaps I was overstepping my bounds plus I could be there all day. And I am not the link police though given time would be. LINKS! Give us LINKS!!
Nobody likes to be ignored. Your minimum required action is to like all comments on your post. The exception to this is rude people who you should actually un-friend if they’re rude.
Speaking of un-friending. Should you decide that you no longer want what I share and un-friend me, that’s okay. I’ll be a bit sad but I won’t whine about.
Unless expressly asked for do not critique art in public on any social media platform.
Please don’t correct my grammar and spelling and I won’t correct yours. It takes all the fun and poignancy out connecting.
If I continually share your stuff and you never share mine, I’ll keep sharing your stuff.

Those are my social media rules. Of course yours maybe different. Do you have social media rules that you use? If so please share them in the comments, I’m dying to know if I’m the only one.