GALLERY 881
881 East Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6A 3Y1
gallery881.com
@gallery881_
OF COURSE THIS HURTS
Exhibition by Jackie Dives
Exhibition
March 16 - 26, 2025
Opening Reception
Sunday, March 16, 2025 from 2 - 5pm
Artist Talk
Saturday, March 22, 2025 from 2 - 3pm
EXHIBITION STATEMENT
“To make the private into something public is an action that has terrific ramifications.” — David Wojnarowicz
Of Course This Hurts is a photography series that intimately documents the toxic drug supply crisis through the lives of people who are being impacted by this public health emergency. The photographs explore love, grief, bodily autonomy, trauma, and healing as experienced by drug policy activists, frontline workers, people who use drugs, and their family members in British Columbia, where overdose is the leading cause of death for people aged 10-59.
The photographs are of people like Jeremy Kalicum, a scientist with a Masters of Public Health who could be facing life in prison for operating a compassion club; Trey Helten, an overdose prevention site worker who has dedicated his life to caring for people in the community; and Traci Letts, whose son recently died from a drug overdose.
In 2017 my father died from an accidental drug overdose and my art practice shifted dramatically. His death gave my practice a specific urgency—it became essential to create in order to grieve and to survive that grief.
As someone with lived experience it’s important to me that my documentation challenges the cliche and harmful narratives perpetuated by prevalent media tropes that judge and demonize people who use drugs. My photographs complicate historical narratives while exploring the complexities of the human condition.
The story of the overdose crisis goes far beyond people slumped over on the sidewalk; it’s a story of unrelenting commitment, unconditional love, self sacrifice, perpetual grief, and the brutality that occurs when unrealistic ideals are more heavily weighted than human health and dignity.
I’m interested in interrogating the role of photography, especially in communities that have been marginalized by photography. My practice is diaristic and confessional, based in both auto-ethnography (qualitative research connecting my personal experiences to wider cultural, political, and social meanings and understandings) and social practice. I see this project as a historical record of existence that proves: We were here, this happened, our stories and lives mattered.
The severity of this crisis cannot be overstated and is only worsening each day. We are experiencing the highest number of deaths from drug overdose ever recorded, to the point where overdose death has lowered the average life expectancy of Canadians. Regardless of how someone might feel about drug use or drug policy, it's undeniable that this amount of death is having a significant impact on our communities. Since the government declared a public health emergency in 2016 over 49,000 people have died from opioid-related deaths in this country. For perspective, the first Canadian death attributed to AIDS occurred in 1983. Approximately 21,000 people have died from AIDS since then.
ARTIST BIO
Jackie Dives is a multi-disciplinary artist working within photography, video, performance, and installation. She uses both auto-ethnography and collaborative storytelling to address themes of social justice, trauma, grief, identity and community. Her work has been recognized by the Canada Council for the Arts, the B.C. Arts Council, and the Digital Publishing Awards, and has been exhibited and screened internationally including in venues such as the Burrard Arts Foundation (Vancouver), Gallery Gachet (Vancouver), and the Maysles Documentary Center (New York). Her clients include The New York Times, Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian, among others.
jackiedivesphoto.com