The Place I Am

Featured artists: Rachel Denbina, Elise Findlay, Emily Fyfe, Chloe MacDonald, Natalie Melara, Laura Olive, and Vivian Smith

The Clematis Collective is a group of women, 2SLGBTQ+, and BIPOC multidisciplinary artists who have bonded through experiences struggling with mental health challenges and who desire to carry on a more open and honest conversation about such challenges.

The Place I Am explores nature’s healing capabilities as a coping mechanism. Over the past couple of years, the members of the Clematis Collective have found solace and connection in nature through shared – yet separate – experiences. They have found that nature allows space for humans to process experiences and to find connection in times of disconnect from others.

The exhibition investigates the artists’ understanding of the places where they work and live, and by extension, the idea of ‘home’, through nature. The group’s creative processes help keep them connected to the natural world through difficult and changing times and remind them of the ways they’ve incorporated these spaces into their lives, expanding what home can mean. The Place I Am includes a variety of works, each an individual collective member’s response to place, in their own selves and in larger ecosystems.

Please join us for the opening reception for The Place I Am and Juliana Rempel’s One By One, on Saturday January 21^st, between 1 and 4 pm. Remarks will be held at 2 pm.