“Using unsupported acrylic likened to tissue and flesh, these works reflect the internal spaces of the body and self, opening into the space around them, both carrying and pouring out emotion to be communicated to the viewer on a primal level” – Emma McLay

Two large pieces from Emma’s graduating MFA exhibition, Membryonics, were on display in the Women’s Studies exhibition space in the Fall of 2011. These large works incorporate paint, hand cut wood veneer, and fabric in order to represent and reflect on the internal spaces of bodies, with specific gestures towards feminine reproductive bodies.

Emma is an artist currently based in Pender Island, where she lives with her partner and two daughters. She earned her MFA in Painting at the University of Alberta in 2011.

“Is it unrequited love? A love triangle? Do you have a crush on feminism? Perhaps you are having a lovers’ quarrel?” – from the Love Letters to Feminism call for submissions,  Carolyn Jervis.

Love Letters to Feminism is a touring exhibit curated by Carolyn Jervis. Jervis’ call for participation asked contributors to mail in their love letters to feminism. The exhibition asks contributors and audiences to reflect on the nature of their relationships with feminism. Since its original installation in the Women’s Studies Exhibition Space in Fall 2009, Love Letters to Feminism has toured Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa.

Carolyn Jervis with “Love Letters to Feminism” at the CWSA reception in Montreal

Based in Edmonton, Carolyn earned a BA in Art and Design, with a Women’s Studies minor, in 2010. While working as a freelance art writer and cultural worker, Carolyn earned a Master’s degree in Critical and Curatorial Studies Program from the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory at the University of British Columbia in 2014. She currently works as a curatorial assistant at the Art Gallery of Alberta.

To find out more about love letters, why not check out loveletterstofeminism.blogspot.ca