The Beach at Artscape Gibraltar Point Residency, Toronto ON, 2014
I've been at Artscape Gibraltar Point in Toronto for almost a week now and wanted to let you know how it's going so far! This is the first of 4 residencies I'll be attending this Summer and I'm pretty excited about all the time I've managed to set aside to get work done.
It's a pretty cool spot and I'm really glad I decided to apply to this one! The residence is in a re-purposed elementary school on Centre Island - just a short ferry ride away from downtown and right on the shores of Lake Ontario. Each artist gets an entire classroom as a studio - it's kind of neat to be back in school with the old chalkboards, drinking fountains and the little desks. I can't believe how small everything is! I've also got a nice view of a lagoon full of ducks and the CN tower in the distance. It's a great place to spend time outdoors too - the residency is a few steps away from surprisingly nice beaches and there are bike/walking paths all around the island.
It's a lot larger than what I was expecting - there are more people (approx. 20-30) doing different types of art and staying for different lengths of time so it's a bit less intimate than Elsewhere Studios where there were just a handful of people sharing a smaller space. I think this can be good or bad depending on what you prefer, but I've enjoyed both so far.
At first I was a bit overwhelmed by the big empty space, the pressure to make my time here worthwhile and wasn't sure what kind of project I wanted to work on. I decided to start playing around with some clay a couple of days ago and ended up sculpting a monkey head. It must have been a subconscious response to an article I read last week about monkeys being shipped to the United States for animal testing. I love monkeys and it really disturbed me to think that we're still using and abusing such amazing creatures in this way (please read more here). I don't think this will be a one-off sculpture - I want it to be the start of a bigger project to raise awareness about animal cruelty issues.
If you have any questions about the residency or my new project, let me know in the comments section below!
It's a pretty cool spot and I'm really glad I decided to apply to this one! The residence is in a re-purposed elementary school on Centre Island - just a short ferry ride away from downtown and right on the shores of Lake Ontario. Each artist gets an entire classroom as a studio - it's kind of neat to be back in school with the old chalkboards, drinking fountains and the little desks. I can't believe how small everything is! I've also got a nice view of a lagoon full of ducks and the CN tower in the distance. It's a great place to spend time outdoors too - the residency is a few steps away from surprisingly nice beaches and there are bike/walking paths all around the island.
It's a lot larger than what I was expecting - there are more people (approx. 20-30) doing different types of art and staying for different lengths of time so it's a bit less intimate than Elsewhere Studios where there were just a handful of people sharing a smaller space. I think this can be good or bad depending on what you prefer, but I've enjoyed both so far.
At first I was a bit overwhelmed by the big empty space, the pressure to make my time here worthwhile and wasn't sure what kind of project I wanted to work on. I decided to start playing around with some clay a couple of days ago and ended up sculpting a monkey head. It must have been a subconscious response to an article I read last week about monkeys being shipped to the United States for animal testing. I love monkeys and it really disturbed me to think that we're still using and abusing such amazing creatures in this way (please read more here). I don't think this will be a one-off sculpture - I want it to be the start of a bigger project to raise awareness about animal cruelty issues.
If you have any questions about the residency or my new project, let me know in the comments section below!
Artscape Gibraltar Point Residency, Toronto ON, 2014
Mat Dubé at Artscape Gibraltar Point Residency, Toronto ON, 2014
Monkey Sculpture made by Mat Dubé at Artscape Gibraltar Point Residency, Toronto ON, 2014
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