Oxygen Art Centre is delighted to announce Jaymie Johnson + Keiko Lee-Hem as artists-in-residence from August 2 – 16, 2023 for the bathroom installation project!
The artists will be working on an immersive installation that is “inspired by the perfect pink and purple poppies growing in [their] gardens, and the refuge [they] each find in nature.” The installation will replicate the inside of a poppy flower with the intention to “invite the occupant to escape the busy-ness of the outside world, into a serene yet whimsical space of year-round summertime simplicity.”
This project is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and will be on view (and use) for one-year. Stay tuned for updates, install documentation, and more!
Jaymie Johnson is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice is rooted in investigating and building relationship with place through engagement with plants as subject matter and material. Her work spans drawing, printmaking, textiles, and community-engaged art.
Jaymie holds a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design (2015) accompanied by mentorship in community engagement and public art from Sharon Kallis and Dr. Cameron Cartiere. She’s facilitated public art projects and participated in residencies and exhibitions throughout BC.
Jaymie is from the East Shore of Kootenay Lake and is grateful to currently reside in Nelson, BC, the təmxʷulaʔxʷ of the Sinixt, and land connected to the Ktunaxa, Syilx, and Métis.
Keiko Lee-Hem’s art practice allows her to slow down and slip into the present moment, escaping the busy-ness and distraction of the modern world and the digital life of her day job. Her practice allows her quality time noticing, savouring and recording the exquisite design and detail of her natural surroundings and helps her cope with sadness and anxiety caused by the passing of time, made evident by the waxing and waning of her garden and the growing up of her child on a changing planet.
Keiko holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University, which formed the foundation for her work today as a freelance graphic designer. In recent years she returned to the tactile experience of drawing, paper cut and printmaking, partly as a way to escape the digital realm, but also as a means for savouring the seasonal beauty of her natural surroundings, and for arresting the passage of time.
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