Shortly after Rea McNamara became a mom, the curator was invited to create a digital exhibition for Regina’s MacKenzie Art Gallery. Like most new parents, McNamara often found herself awake in the middle of the night caring for her newborn while simultaneously scrolling on her phone, searching for answers and support.
Sometimes, it was during these irregular, bleary-eyed office hours that she’d also fit the smaller work tasks of an independent curator and writer.
And it was in these sleepless, overtaxed moments, too, that she found the subject of her show.
Featuring major and emerging talents in digital art from Canada and abroad, Wake Windows: The Witching Hour examines the invisible labour of mothers. The exhibition gives space to the little-talked-about, the overlooked and the unrecorded when it comes to the experience of rearing children.
“We are quite dismissive as a society of the work that goes into taking care of a young child,” the curator says.
“I [wanted] to do a show that a sleep-deprived new parent who’s stuck under a sleeping baby at 3 a.m. could check out,” the curator says.
Wake Windows takes the form of a text-based choose-your-own-adventure game. Visitors play the role of a curator’s friend who’s agreed to review an exhibition proposal. You arrive to find your friend is stranded upstairs with their napping newborn, but they’ve left the relevant files open on their laptop for your attention. That’s when you meet the baby’s AI companion, a Clippy-like character named Edgar, who guides you through the exhibition folders with excerpts from the curator’s research as well as reflections on their own upbringing, so to speak.
(Screen capture of installation of work from Wake Windows: the Witching Hour, online at MacKenzie.Art, 2024.)
More artifice than autobiography, McNamara says the curator-mom who’s training an AI nanny is intended as a comical caricature of who she was as a brand new mother. “It satirizes the type of parent who’s looking at too many Instagram ads, who’s in the WhatsApp parent groups, who’s telling you, ‘Oh, well, we’re doing this’ or ‘We’ve signed up for that.’ Like that really overeager [person], just so overwhelmed by information that they don’t know which end is up.”
(Screen capture of installation of work from Wake Windows: the Witching Hour, online at MacKenzie.Art, 2024.)
While it may poke fun at the quagmire of data and technology parents trudge through, the exhibition — a digital one, happening on your phone screen — is hardly cynical on the subject. Instead, it largely explores the ways parents and children can creatively engage technology.
The artwork of Wake Windows examines a vast range of experiences, expressions and issues on the topic of mothering. An experimental documentary by the American multimedia artist Lauren Lee McCarthy, for instance, explores surrogacy and bodily autonomy. Wednesday Kim’s 3D animation Sleep Deprived Workers presents a traversable mindscape drawn from the bleakness of postpartum depression. And the Kanien’kehá:ka artist Skawennati — who McNamara calls “the O.G. of doingmachinima” — retells the Haudenosaunee creation story of Sky Woman, the first mother, in the virtual world Second Life.
In a 360 VR video, Detroit-based artist Rory Scott has lovingly recreated her grandmother’s living room by stitching together panoramic photographs. With its cut crystal candy dishes, ornate lamps and gilt frames, Scott looks to capture some of the enchantment this particular space — and her memories of the woman who lived there — represent to her.
(Screen capture of installation of work by Rory Scott from Wake Windows: the Witching Hour, online at MacKenzie.Art, 2024.)
“I adored the magic that she brought into my life,” the artist says. “There are these people that exist who give you something of guidance, they give you something extra — a spark — and it does completely affect your upbringing.”
The work is a tender example, McNamara says, of the powerful impact of “othermothers,” or the women who provide care for children not their own.
In another folder, you’ll find a series of gifs and digital animations by the Toronto-based artist Alejandra Higuera in collaboration with her daughter, Magnolia. Their project began during the pandemic, when the pair were stuck inside their 17th-floor apartment and found a positive outlet in the activities of drawing together and filming one another.
“The work came out of the realization that my kid loves playing; it’s her favourite way of connecting and learning,” Higuera explains. “And I’m learning how to play myself, because it’s something that’s really hard for me as an adult.”
In one video, a group of abstract figures made from colourful yarn dances against a dark backdrop. Their movements seem to happen magically, until it’s revealed that the mother and daughter are together choreographing the action. The work encapsulates the whole spirit of their project, suggesting that, like artistic collaboration, co-learning and mutual play are crucial to the relationship of children and parents.
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“I’m showing a part of mothering, which is that I’m not just teaching my kid or guiding her in this world, but she’s also a teacher,” Higuera says. “And I believe kids have a lot to teach us.”
While the exhibition focuses on the experiences of mothering, it was never intended for parents alone. Moreover, Wake Windows is about the work of care, which is something everyone will have experience with in their lifetime. It is McNamara’s hope that audiences come away with a better understanding of this particular kind of labour, she says, “and how it totally reshapes people.”
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
In a case that has sent shockwaves through the Vancouver Island art community, a local art dealer has been charged with one count of fraud over $5,000. Calvin Lucyshyn, the former operator of the now-closed Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay, faces the charge after police seized hundreds of artworks, valued in the tens of millions of dollars, from various storage sites in the Greater Victoria area.
Alleged Fraud Scheme
Police allege that Lucyshyn had been taking valuable art from members of the public under the guise of appraising or consigning the pieces for sale, only to cut off all communication with the owners. This investigation began in April 2022, when police received a complaint from an individual who had provided four paintings to Lucyshyn, including three works by renowned British Columbia artist Emily Carr, and had not received any updates on their sale.
Further investigation by the Saanich Police Department revealed that this was not an isolated incident. Detectives found other alleged victims who had similar experiences with Winchester Galleries, leading police to execute search warrants at three separate storage locations across Greater Victoria.
Massive Seizure of Artworks
In what has become one of the largest art fraud investigations in recent Canadian history, authorities seized approximately 1,100 pieces of art, including more than 600 pieces from a storage site in Saanich, over 300 in Langford, and more than 100 in Oak Bay. Some of the more valuable pieces, according to police, were estimated to be worth $85,000 each.
Lucyshyn was arrested on April 21, 2022, but was later released from custody. In May 2024, a fraud charge was formally laid against him.
Artwork Returned, but Some Remain Unclaimed
In a statement released on Monday, the Saanich Police Department confirmed that 1,050 of the seized artworks have been returned to their rightful owners. However, several pieces remain unclaimed, and police continue their efforts to track down the owners of these works.
Court Proceedings Ongoing
The criminal charge against Lucyshyn has not yet been tested in court, and he has publicly stated his intention to defend himself against any pending allegations. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 10, 2024.
Impact on the Local Art Community
The news of Lucyshyn’s alleged fraud has deeply affected Vancouver Island’s art community, particularly collectors, galleries, and artists who may have been impacted by the gallery’s operations. With high-value pieces from artists like Emily Carr involved, the case underscores the vulnerabilities that can exist in art transactions.
For many art collectors, the investigation has raised concerns about the potential for fraud in the art world, particularly when it comes to dealing with private galleries and dealers. The seizure of such a vast collection of artworks has also led to questions about the management and oversight of valuable art pieces, as well as the importance of transparency and trust in the industry.
As the case continues to unfold in court, it will likely serve as a cautionary tale for collectors and galleries alike, highlighting the need for due diligence in the sale and appraisal of high-value artworks.
While much of the seized artwork has been returned, the full scale of the alleged fraud is still being unraveled. Lucyshyn’s upcoming court appearances will be closely watched, not only by the legal community but also by the wider art world, as it navigates the fallout from one of Canada’s most significant art fraud cases in recent memory.
Art collectors and individuals who believe they may have been affected by this case are encouraged to contact the Saanich Police Department to inquire about any unclaimed pieces. Additionally, the case serves as a reminder for anyone involved in high-value art transactions to work with reputable dealers and to keep thorough documentation of all transactions.
As with any investment, whether in art or other ventures, it is crucial to be cautious and informed. Art fraud can devastate personal collections and finances, but by taking steps to verify authenticity, provenance, and the reputation of dealers, collectors can help safeguard their valuable pieces.
