Artist in Residence at Oxygen Art Centre
Wuulhu – Bracken Hanuse Corlett
Artist Talk: Thursday, December 5 from 7-9pm
Workshops: Saturday, December 7 & 14 from 1-4pm
The Oxygen Art Centre welcomes NorthWest Coast multimedia artist Bracken Hanuse Corlett as their artist in residence for the month of December. Corlett hails from the Wuikinuxv and Klahoose Nations. Corlett feels that art making is just a part of his heritage and his everyday life. He draws much of his inspiration from his ancestry and in fact reclamation and identity politics are a central theme in his art. Diverse and hip, Corlett is also inspired by other forms of expression such as agit-pop and mashup. Corlett enjoys the fusing of old and new that his circumstances allow with one foot in traditional art making and one in the contemporary art world, the results are invigorating! Corlett’s art practice encompasses a variety of forms including sound, song, painting, sculpture, carving, video, writing and performing. For Corlett moving between the more stationary arts and the dynamic action of performance and video art provides a balance that appeals to him. His apparent ease at moving in and out of various art forms adds an element of spontaneity and freshness that is a welcome surprise from the often heady art that is around.
Corlett is interested in his ancestral language and in breathing new life into once forgotten words. Such as Wuulhu, a Wuikinuxv expression meaning “to fuse together”. Wuulhu has been the theme of Corlett’s work over the past couple of years. Playing with a word affords him the opportunity to re-imagine the word as it oscilates between traditional and contemporary worlds. A sample of Corlett’s Wuulhu project was exhibited at the Langham Cultural Center this past summer. The exhibition included several paintings, drawings, carving and a video performance.
Corlett’s career as a multimedia artist is moving rapidly and keeping him very busy. Notable to mention is that Corlett is one of the founders of the Vancouver Indigenous Media Arts Festival. He has studied Northwest Coast art, carving and design from acclaimed Heiltsuk artists Bradley Hunt and his sons Shawn Hunt and Dean Hunt. He is a recent graduate of the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, a recipient of several awards for his work including grants from the British Columbia Arts Council, Aboriginal Arts and Development award and the Canada Council for the Arts. He has also been exhibiting his work at the Unit Pitt Projects, the Grunt Gallery and Gallery Gachet all in Vancouver. His work has also shown at the Alternator in Kelowna and the SAW Gallery in Ottawa.
As part of his residency Corlett will give a talk about his life and work at the Oxygen Art Center on December 5th at 7pm. He will also run a two day workshop at the Centre on saturday December 7th and 14th from 1 – 4pm. To find out more about the workshops and to ensure your space in the workshop come to the artist talk. Other wise, the workshops are free, space is limited and sign up is on a first come basis. Participants must be able to do both sessions. Both the talk and workshops take place at the Oxygen Art Cente.
Corlett’s intention for the workshops will be to focus on performance with live-visuals )V Jing), audio and projection-based installation. Depending on the dynamics and interest of the workshop participants we may also begin experimenting with gathering footage via sourced digital files or from our own filming. The workshops will begin with basic introduction to AV Mixer Pro, which is a digital VJ platform available for download. Basics will be covered such as loading clips, Live chromakey function, midi control functions, FX and matching audio. At the beginning of the first workshop there will be a brief overview and some visual examples of how these tools can be used for performance and installation.
Photo Credit: Nadya Kwandibens, Redworks Studio
Installation: Monday December 16th from 7-9pm
Oxygen Art Centre will be hosting an installation of its December Artist in Residence, Bracken Hanuse Corlett. He hails from the Sunshine coast and is descendant of two Northwest Coast Nations, the Wuikinuxv and Klahoose Nations. Corlett has been in residence all month creating new work that continues his exploration of Wuulhu, a Wuikinuxv expression that meaning “to fuse together”. For Corlett this fusion is the coming together of his first nations and Scottish ancestry. Born between two worlds Corlett finds resolution in his creative practice of which consists of a variety of media including video, Vjing, painting and carving.
Corlett’s career as a multimedia artist is moving rapidly and keeping him very busy. Notable to mention is that Corlett is one of the founders of the Vancouver Indigenous Media Arts Festival. He has studied Northwest Coast art, carving and design from acclaimed Heiltsuk artists Bradley Hunt and his sons Shawn Hunt and Dean Hunt. He is a recent graduate of the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, a recipient of several awards for his work including grants from the British Columbia Arts Council, Aboriginal Arts and Development award and the Canada Council for the Arts. He has also been exhibiting his work at the Unit Pitt Projects, the Grunt Gallery and Gallery Gachet all in Vancouver. His work has also shown at the Alternator in Kelowna and the SAW Gallery in Ottawa.
We invite you to join us for an unforgettable installation of Corlett’s new work made during his residency . The reception will take place on Monday December 16th from 7-9pm at the Oxygen Art Centre in the alley at 320 Vernon Street.
