Libby Hague, "Hand and Eye Connection"

Libby Hague, "Hand and Eye Connection"

Room 2

Libby Hague

WALK WITH ME

EXHIBTION /
MARCH 12 TO APRIL 26, 2015

OPENING /
THURSDAY MARCH 12, 8PM 

ARTIST TALK /
SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 3PM

The idea of the journey is at the core of Libby Hague’s installation Walk with me. We may think of the personal journey we undertake over the course of our lives, shaping our memories and sometimes bringing us back to our childhood. There are journeys through nature. There is also, of course, the artist’s journey, as seen through her influences, her processes, her studio work, and her exhibitions.  Finally, there is the journey undertaken by viewers through the installation, their encounter with the work, and the links they create between various elements put forth by the artist. These notions converge within the exhibition.

In Walk with me, Libby Hague metaphorically weaves links between her past and her present through the use of threads, ropes, cables, and recycled elements previously presented in other contexts, which she repurposes as a kind of abstract self-portrait. The artist highlights questions of identity linked to her childhood in Montréal, her status as an anglophone in a francophone city, and her fondness for Québec long after her relocation to Toronto. Engaging in a reassessment of sorts, the artist revisits images that have permeated her mind and that inspire her studio work. In this immersive installation, she references a list of elements that have helped her creative process:  “Borduas, Riopelle, Pellan, Molinari’s ink drawings, ceinture fléchée, the Main, red and silver roofs, winter, the river, the forests in winter, the forests in autumn, birch trees, church steeples, the cross on the mountain, stained glass, her family together.”[1]

The results can be seen as a kind of memory exercise, in that the artist looks back, digs through her souvenirs and pieces together recent and previously shown works. Formally, this accumulation of lines and motifs within the space take the shape of different modular and adjustable structures, most notably in the two installations that reference a forest and a field. Much like the wooden Tinkertoy® construction game, the artist creates assemblages by adding motifs and materials based on a formal vocabulary that is recurrent in her work (coloured papers held together with push-pins, printed wood, various interlocking materials, etc.). These fragile and delicate structures invite contemplation, much like a landscape would.

 


[1] Excerpt from the artist’s website, January 24, 2015: http://www.libbyhague.com/synchromesh.html

 

Libby Hague grew up in Montreal’s west island suburbs in a family of artists and scientists, although they never realized it. Instead, they called it "trying out something new", "just puttering around", and "going down to the basement". She was lucky enough to be gratified by the process early on and selfish enough to do it all the time. 

She has lived in Ontario since the early 70‘s and has been successful enough to find professional satisfaction (over 50 solo shows), and unsuccessful enough that no one tells her what to do and she is free to invent whatever she has to. She makes enough money to pay her rent  (if she is thrifty), and has time to work and some time to travel. With help it's close to a perfect situation.

Libby Hague would like to thank Philip Anisman, Betty Hague, the Centre CLARK team and The Ontario Arts Council.