The Learning Zone

We enjoyed Integrated Media student Nikole’s energy and passion while she worked here at the Learning Zone for the last two years. This energy and passion also extended into her artwork that can be viewed on her Vimeo channel.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and the art you create.

I am Nikole Hildago McGregor, I come from Peru. I am a feminist and a Mestizo woman. I make video work that is connected with both my identity and my political views, views that are also related with social change.

How long have you been interested in art? How long have you known that this is something that you wanted to pursue as a career?

When I was growing up I was really good at math and sciences. I really like to do crafts but I never saw that as something I wanted to do for a living and dedicate myself to. I studied biology for 5 years but I honestly did not like it. So, moving to Canada was an opportunity to take over a different route with something that I would actually enjoy and do not hate every single second. I took a design certificate program and worked with a team designing a logo for a minor hockey team. I really like designing and doing art direction but wanted more creative freedom. So, I look for a place where I could do this thing that I was craving, that was art and developing my skills. I learnt of the Integrated Media program at OCAD U, that offered me the opportunity to work with computers, animation, film and design, a program that brings art and technology together.

Where does your inspiration come from?

As I mentioned, I am feminist and Mestizo Latino woman from Peru, which is still a chauvinist country with older views about the roles of women in society, and still dealing with issues like ownership of the female body – as if it’s not her own. These kind of themes are really important to me.

My work always turns the eyes towards the current situation in Peru, but that is also present in the first world, like the United States, were Planned Parenthood centers are being closed because of how politics move in order to control women. I find that most of my work tries to make reference to what inspires me the most. When I work on in a project I want to communicate my ideas and feelings. I avoid using narration because I speak Spanish and English, but I want my pieces to be understood by everyone. I try to make points about the feelings and insecurities and the internal struggles that women face.

Which two art supplies could you not live without?

I love paper.  Even with my stop motion animation, I made the whole wardrove and custom designs are made out of paper. I adore the different weights and textures. Also, for my own creative process, I can’t live without clay, it is a substrate of my craft, and I consider it enriches my creative process

When you came to OCAD you knew that you were going to be involved with film/video making, but did you always have a love for animation or was that something that developed later?

It developed afterwards. I did not have any kind of artistic instruction previously. I did not know how to grab a pen or pencil for drawing, it was so weird. You need to at least know a little bit about drawing for animation. When I applied to Integrated Media, I said yes I can design in a different way, like for making film because you follow the same principles of design, colour, repetition within the screen,  so obviously I started taking more film courses. But little by little I realized that I like the power of creating everything by yourself. You need a team for making a film but for animation there is a certain flexibility about it and you can do it by yourself.  Of course, it will take all of the time in the world! It was quite a discovery, and I learned to carve, to paint, to draw, because of animation. I am really keen on aesthetics, so I would spend weeks learning the skills before getting into the animation process. Animation is a great tool for talking about really difficult and painful subject matters. You can be really symbolic about it without having blood and death directly full on your face.  You can be subtle and say deep, sad stuff in a really beautiful way and that’s a power that I wanted to be able to wield.

What did you enjoy the most about Integrated Media program?

I find that Integrated Media allowed me to discover myself in a way that other programs would not have been able to—it gave me so many options to strengthen the skills that I already had, and it also opened doors for discovering new ways of making art. All the instructors that I had were amazing, inspiring artists, great professionals, practicing artists. I don’t know if I was lucky but everything about the program allowed me the possibility to call myself an artist today. I find it such a complex word, what does it even mean to be an artist?, to me its the ability to grab different tools and create something that is meaningful to today’s society.

How would you describe yourself as an artist?

When I talk about myself, I say that I’m a filmmaker and animator, and I know that there are a lot of nuances on those two terms. My practice is media based but what I present on the screen is informed by all the tools I find around me. An artist should not be limited, and if you have the opportunity to really explore other substrate then why not, it will just enrich the final practice. Communication is also important to me, so I try to portrait the subject matter in meaningful, lingering ways making use of the visuals. I believe I am capable of highlighting important issues with the art direction of a short.

Is there any artist from the past or present that you appreciate a lot?

Jan Švankmajer. He works with film and animation. He makes gigantic puppets, sometimes he does puppetry, stop motion animation, and he works with clay and wood. He writes a lot and I like the way he describes his work—he does not make objects come to life but he listens to the objects telling the stories that the objects want to tell. It’s so rich. I find his work inspiring and connects a lot with my art practice.

What are your plans when you graduate?

I would love to keep doing what I do. I have had the incredible honour to show my pieces around the world. I’ve been showing in Europe, South America and here in Canada. I have been invited to the La Truca Film Festival in Colombia in the middle of the year because they have a special panel with female empowered filmmakers, and my film is also showing in that festival.

Is there anything else you want to share with us, any final thoughts?

If you are a student, take advantage of that because you can create pieces that are really important and meaningful to you, and you have the opportunity to have the feedback from your instructors and that feedback is invaluable.

The Learning Zone Visionaire periodical collection keeps on expanding with two new additions, Issue No. 46: Uncensored by Mario Testino and Issue No. 51: Harmony Black.

Issue No. 46: Uncensored curated by photographer Mario Testino, features many contemporary artists including photographs by Testino himself. Uncensored is a provoking magazine about sex in the contemporary world.

Issue No. 51: Harmony Black is an interactive publication featuring six 25-piece puzzles from leading artists—Maurizio Cattelan, Robert Wilson, Yayoi Kusama, Vik Muniz, Massiom Vitali and Richard Misrach. Stretch your imagination with each puzzle by combining the pieces to create other unique images – on your own or collaboratively.

Visionaire is not a traditional art magazine but a contemporary art and fashion publication. Showcasing art, fashion and design using guest curators including prominent artists, designers and photographers. Each issue is unique in format, themes and experience.

Learning Zone is also host to many Design Annuals including American Illustration, Art Directors Annual, Europe’s Best Advertising, and Art Basel.

This Wednesday, the Learning Zone launched a student exhibit featuring visual and new media work from students and graduates of OCAD University’s Art and Design Education Lab (ADEL). Curated by Pam Patterson, Leena Raudvee, Marta Chudolinska and Daniel Payne, the work in Artists Teaching represents the anxieties, pleasures and challenges the artists have encountered as emerging art and design educators.

“In speaking to art and design education, one tends to reference curriculum, the students taught, the educational contexts, and teachers’ pedagogy; but what about our own unique experiences of, and affective, experiential and aesthetic responses to teaching and learning? Our process as artists inextricably intertwines art making and multileveled learning. We are responsive to and responsible for our own personal and project development and their realization. As art and design educators we reflect on our teaching moments and in doing so inform our art practice; this is a reciprocal and complex relationship.”

Pictured above, fourth year illustration student Hudson Christie used the remnants of his students’ art to create a symbol of how he learned to teach, the Ouroboros, or the serpent eating its own tail.

In addition to Christie, the artists featured in Artists Teaching are Megan D’Angelo, Nazli Nahidi, Hareem Qureshy, Peter Rahul, Julia Sardinha, Angela Stoilkova and Cassidy Tam. Above, fiber artist Tam’s installation — made of silk, wool, cotton, natural dyes and water-soluble fabric paint — aims to trigger multiple senses while raising awareness of the endangered bumblebee.

As a partner to the Artists Teaching exhibit in the Learning Zone, Teaching Artists is showing the work of OCADU faculty JJ Lee, Mei Lee Ogden, Amy Swartz and Natalie Waldburger at the University of Toronto’s CWSE Gallery (252 Bloor St. W, 2nd floor). The work in this sister exhibit addresses the complexity and playfulness of the art and learning relationship. Both exhibits run until November 29th.

To book an exhibit in the Learning Zone, visit the submissions page for more information.

Last month’s Materials Trading Post was a blast and this month’s will be, too! Drop by the Learning Zone between 11:30am and 1:30pm this Tuesday, March 12 for a first-hand look. This is a really great opportunity to find out about new tools and supplies; you can try them out, experiment, collaborate, and learn from each other! Bring along any leftover or unused materials of your own and, who knows, maybe you’ll find somebody who wants them, and maybe you’ll find something you want, too. Waste not, want not — and reduce waste, right?

The Materials Trading Post is a free event hosted in collaboration by the Learning Zone, the First Generation/Student Success Programs, and the Aboriginal Visual Culture Program. Contact Melissa General for more information!

It’s that time of the year again, the 5th Annual OCAD U Zine Fair which takes place next Wednesday March 6th between 11 – 5 pm at 100 McCaul Street, in the main lobby.

After taking in the zine fair,  zinesters and zine fans are welcome to visit the OCAD Zine Library located in the Learning Zone. The OCAD Zine Library is continually adding new titles and subjects to the collection.

To learn more about the OCAD Zine Library and activities, you can visit OCAD Zine Library and zinesforlunch.blogspot.

Zines are a very important form of publishing media giving a voice to individual creators and alternative viewpoints. Come out to the Zine fair and visit the OCAD Zine Library to be inspired or just to sit back and enjoy reading a zine.