Nature of the River – Nick Novak Fellowship ExhibitionMapping a Geography of Curious Surfaces by Maralynn CherryCuriosity implies a certain unsettling, a notion of things outside the realmof the know, of things not yet quite understood or articulated, thepleasures of the forbidden or the hidden or the unthought, the optimism offinding something out, something one had not known or been able toconceive of before. [i]If one considers printmaking from a topographic ortypographic perspective its reproductive function unravels arich history of mapped surfaces – surfaces that imprint anartist’s visual experience of a given terrain or culturalnarrative.  It is here that I would like to insert Rogoff’snotion of “the curious eye” as an underlying visual impulseor instinct for collecting and restructuring narratives ofplace.  Etched plates, lithographic stones or mesh screensbecome active surfaces reflecting an artist’s curioustravels through an ever more complex cultural landscape. Here the act of printing sets up a theatre of events wheresites, landmarks and signs insert the viewer/reader into aparticipatory role.  There is room for such an art tounleash unconscious desires, memories and stories lockedinside our all to familiar spaces.  …

          Lower Don River Factories                                             Etching, aquatint                                                                   22 x 30 inches                                                                       Liz Menard has a unique way of re-reading sites where naturemeets urban sprawl. Prints conjure an architecture of livedexperience, maps to guide the curious through unfamiliarperspectives.                                           

                                           Lower Don River Overpass                                           Etching, aquatint                                           22 x 30 inchesNature of the RiverLiz Menard wanders, remembers and questions the complexecologies of the Don River, a river that weaves its waythrough Toronto towards Lake Ontario. Its history unfolds asthis artist gathers old maps of the channelization of theDon in the 1890s.  Commerce plays a role in the digging andshaping of a river for the shipping of raw materials. Menardperceives the river as a living entity, one she empathizeswith as she thinks of “the River remembering beforepavement.”[ii]       

Former Eastern Avenue Bridge   Etching, aquatint24 x 30 inches Plant and animal species, habitats and the river itself feedMenard’s “curious eye” with a rich layering of morphologies.  She wanders the waterfront regions witnessingan ever-expanding archive of raw material and sites. On a sheet of Japanese paper she prints a powerful calligraphic formation of the don using a large horizontal etching plate.  This same river image reappears in a reduced etched print of a historical map of the Don River flowing through the city. One is made aware of the inherent contradictions that abound in such terrains, affecting our perceptions of urban/wilderness zones.                                         

                                           1888 Pre-channelization Map of the Lower Don River                                          Etching, aquatint, hand colouring                                          17.5 x 56 inchesMenard gathers intricate material about the territory where the present river meets Lake Ontario.  At the Lower Don River, natural ecological predicaments loom.  Certain plant species, such as Pale Swallow-wort (Cynanchum rossicum) and Japanese Knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum), threaten habitats, as do massive numbers of cormorants.  There is much to ponder at boundaries where natural and man-made environmentsconverge.Etching plates become poetically charged biochemicalsurfaces for Menard.  Rich textures are layered in theforeground and back-ground through the application ofseveral acid resistant grounds and aquatints.  Here, processmimics natural growth patterns of plant forms, riverwildlife or aging concrete and steel surfaces of viaductsand bridges.  In essence, Menard’s aesthetic is deeplyaffected by these sites and she grapples with her medium tofind ways to record both the folly and the wonder of a riverand a city in constant transition.                                        Chine-collé etchings of Loosestrife and Smartweed are enrichedby the addition of coloured threads stitched into the papersusing French embroidery knots.

                These species project a beauty thatcarry with them a menacing threat that potentially chokes out other species.   Menard sets out an array of diverse landmarkswhile scoring the surfaces of hercopper plates.  One is aware of amerging theatre of events.  Signsof change, weathering and the strata of past and current eventsfeed the rigour of Menard’s practice.

                                         Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)                                         Etching, chine colle, handstitiching, pastel                                         24 x 30 inchesShe is constantly setting new goals for printing techniques and the installation of finished pieces.

Common Mullein                                                                                     Pale Smartweed                                   (Verbascum  thapsus)                                                                         (Polygonum lapathifolium)    Etching, chine colle, hand sewn French Knots, pastel                     Etching, chine colle, hand sewn French Knots, pastel24 x 30 inches                                                                                                24 x 30 inches                                                                

                                            Staghorn Sumac    (Rhus typhina)                                                                Etching, chine colle, hand sewn French Knots, pastel     24 x 30 inches   For Menard’s Nature of the River exhibition, she prepared an etching of existing and hidden rivers that she printed on linen cloth and upholstered onto two Louis XV-style chairs.

 Lost River Chairs +  Handmade Etched Maple, Birch, Ash and Oak Leaves (framed)Viewers are encouraged to sit on living room chairs, atableau resting place for contemplating a poem that willweave through the atmosphere of the gallery, sottovoce. stanza shapes a living river: “IF the Don River hasa memory… IF the Don River has eyes… IF the Don Riverhas ears… IF the Don River has a voice… IF the Don Rivercould speak…”[iii

Etched copper plate (16 x 48 inches) +Nature of the River  Handmade Artists Book Time itself plays a fundamental role in Menard’s work.  Themethodical approach to techniques applied to her surfacesalludes to increments of time measured between whatappears.  Final prints encapsulate what Henri Bergson callsduration, where all intervals are part of a continuum.  Eachstage of growth or weathering visualized extends spatially –a cinematic movement exists in Menard’s visual narrative. The body of the river becomes an unknown entity potentiallypenetrating our bodies.  We witness the hidden forces ofnature cumulatively without necessarily being conscious ofjust how much it can change our lives. The Don is atopography of stratified memories, living matter and a sitefor development. Menard makes us not only sit in wonder,rather, she reminds us to remember what it was and what itcould become. Open Studio Scholarships The Nick Novak Fellowship is

awarded to an outstanding Open Studio Artist Member with a commitment to a long-term project.Writer’s Biography Maralynn Cherry lives in Orono, Ontarioand is a graduate of OCAD.  She is a practicing multi-medialinstallation artist.  Cherry was curator at the Visual ArtsCentre of Clarington until spring 2012 and has curatedindependently.  She has written numerous catalogue essays,including for the Tree Museum, and a recent exhibitioncatalogue for Prints Today: 2012, the Royal Canadian Academyof the Arts exhibition of print artists from Ontario andQuebec. Cherry is an adjunct faculty in Cultural Studies atTrent University in Peterborough. [i] Irit Rogoff, Terra Infirma: Geography’s Visual Culture (London: Routledge, 2000), 33.[ii] Liz Menard, Artist’s statement, 2012.[iii] Ibid. (paraphrased)