ARTIST TALK
Undercurrents Exhibition by Kristin Man
Moderated by Josema Zamorano.
DATE: April 6, 2024 from 2-3pm
COST: FREE EVENT (by donation)
Artist Statement
“The sea is the symbol of the collective unconscious, because unfathomed depths lie concealed beneath its reflecting surface.” (1) Dr. Carl Jung
Centred on locating her own “Self (2)” amidst a passage through six countries and ongoing global upheavals, Kristin Man began this series with a couple of questions: “What would the impact be on my consciousness if I were able to see my mind as a radiologist can examine an x-ray?”, and “What form would my art take if I were able to combine my inner and outer Seascapes?”
In February 2023, while pursuing her advanced yoga teacher training certification program, Man contacted a local university-based neuroscience laboratory to make simultaneous investigations in the studies of philosophy-bodywork and science. The goal was to explore the potential paradoxes and parallels and perhaps, to find her sense of reality somewhere in between. The lab’s neuroscientists assisted her in making EEG recordings of her own brain activity over meditations. These recordings are embedded in the majority of artworks here. While Undercurrents is predicated on the mother series A-MARE (to love-to sea), based on the overriding concept of connections signified by woven waves, conveying interconnected themes such as ecology (human-others), memories (between times and places), history (between past and present), here she focuses mainly on the waves between those of her brain and the ocean. These efforts by Man to place a scientifically measurable reality of the human brain in dialogue with a transcendent experience derived from metaphysical investigations, suggest that her project is an ongoing experiment. This exhibition represents her recent artistic rumination and embodiment of her micro-macro cosmos.
Bios: Both Kristin Man, the artist, and Josema Zamorano, the moderator, are interdisciplinary artists and educators. Undercurrents is themed on consciousness produced by a variety of lenses including medical instruments and camera. It is an offspring of A-MARE (to love-to sea), Kristin Man’s core project since 2018. In addition to galleries in Vancouver such as Canton-sardine, Burnaby Art Council and Pendulum Gallery, Man has exhibited internationally and her work is in the collection of foundations and private individuals. She has presented her work at institutions such as the Museum of Anthropology, the Italian National Archives in Rome, Rizzoli in Milan, Recontres-ARLES, the Contemporary & Modern Art Museum in Naples, and Palazzo delle Arti Napoli as well as radio and TV interviews in Italy. She invites viewers to reflect on what being human might mean.
