InterconneXion is a project to create a series of large-scale artworks that will be printed collaboratively, outdoors, using a steamroller. The printing will take place in Shawville and the public will be welcome to view both the printmaking process and the finished works, and interact with the artists. The project enjoys generous support from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. It is also supported by the Pontiac Journal, the Bulletin d’Aylmer and the Municipality of Shawville.
The theme uniting the prints is “interconnection/interconnexion” and the seven Outaouais artists who began work on the project last autumn, have all chosen to interpret the theme in ways that reflect their own art practices as well as the places they live and their life experiences. It is a connection between Francophone, Anglophone and LGBTQ artists of varying ages who are members of the Outaouais arts community. Some of the artists will highlight a connection to their community’s history, others a connection to nature and the environment. The theme also allows the artists to explore the interconnection between artist and viewer, and the special connection among printmakers, a medium where collaboration in shared studios has been common for centuries.
The artists (seven printmakers and a videographer) meet at the home of artPontiac in Portage-du-Fort to plan the project and the share their concepts and projects. Each of the printmakers is carving two 3 foot by 2 foot woodblocks which will be complete in time for printing in late summer (or early autumn depending on public health requirements at the time). The videographer is capturing the process of creation and the relationship among the printmakers, what they are learning and sharing.
The printing process, enabled by a large construction-sized steamroller, will be done on the main street in Shawville. Anyone interested will be welcome to come and watch and interact with the artists as the latter share the duties of inking the large woodblocks, positioning them for printing, retrieving and hanging the completed prints, and driving the steamroller! It will be a fun day!
I have been making art for most of my life, from hand built functional and sculptural clay work to handmade paper, book binding, and finally, printmaking. Printmaking offers many options for producing a plate from which to print. Over the years, my preferred medium has been relief printing, such as linocut or woodcut.
The theme of interconnection in my community can be seen through the relationships between the children in the 4H club, the caring for their animals, the farms they live on, the food that is produced, and the community that enjoys that environment and the results of that process.
Susan Cartwright
I am an artist specializing in relief and intaglio printmaking, inspired mostly by nature and my home. I am a self-taught painter and sketcher, having loved art since childhood. Painting led me to the Ottawa School of Art where I enrolled in printmaking out of curiosity, quickly realising that I had found “my” medium. I completed the fine arts diploma printmaking requirements and I continue to take classes to develop and refine my skills. My woodcuts for this project will focus on our connection with nature and between generations in our communities.
I graduated in the Fine Arts Diploma program at the Ottawa School of Art in 2018. My work has been recognized by several awards of excellence and recently acquired by the City of Ottawa. My studio is in Chelsea, Quebec and I am represented by the gallery Studio Sixty Six in Ottawa. My works start from an idea. I am not a painter, printmaker or a photographer; I am an artist who looks for a medium to express her concept. “All things are connected” and for our project, I explore the interconnection between people and our interconnection to the environment.
Louise Guay
Attracted by shapes, lines and colours, I record my impressions in abstract form. For InterconneXion, I was inspired by the spiritual, a genetic and cosmic expression, an imaginary link to the basis of being and existence. I enjoy the flexibility and variety of techniques of printmaking. Working in large format is a great challenge; printing with a steamroller is an unknown.
Since 2013, I have participated in workshops at the Pontiac School of Art in Portage-du-Fort (QC), and followed courses at the Ottawa School of Art and private courses in encaustic and other mediums. I have participated in juried and non-juried exhibitions in Canada and overseas.
Glen Hartle
“There is energy in the world. Find it.”
I’ve always been the artsy kid in the crowd and my view is typically … atypical. A photographer for a lifetime, I now also bend my eye to video, trying to coax a story out of the energy. For InterconneXion, I aim to offer a lens on both the artists and their craft, while constructing a worthy representation of the journey and the art.
Robert Hinchley
I am an artist and educator. Since graduating from the Ontario College of Art and Design with honours, my art has been inspired by the rural and historical regions of Eastern Ontario & West Quebec. My work featured in a solo exhibition in 2019 at the Ottawa School of Art Gallery and is part of the collections of the Carleton University Art Gallery, the City of Ottawa, and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. In 2014 and 2017 I received the Gordon J. Wood Print Purchase Prize from the Carleton University Art Gallery. My studio is in Arnprior, Ontario and I am represented by Galerie St-Laurent + Hill, Ottawa.
I am an artist who originally trained and worked as a theatrical Scenic Artist. My artistic practice now focuses on printmaking. The long history of farming in the Pontiac resonated with me as someone who has family ties to farming out west. I love the signs that announce that a farm has been in a family since the 1800`s that are seen throughout the Pontiac region. My woodblocks that I am printing for InterconneXion reflect on farming in the Pontiac; its deep rich interconnection to the land and the community that spans generations.
Dale Shutt
“I see a fine line between nature and imagination. I like to work there.”
For 46 years my home and studio have been on Grand-Calumet Island in the Ottawa River in West Quebec. A painter on silk for 40 years, in recent years I have also become a printmaker. For ‘InterconneXion’ I seek to represent the oneness of people and their environment and to express an awareness and appreciation of our place in Nature and Nature’s place in us.