The Learning Zone

We are so happy to announce that winner of the People’s Choice Award for the Mega Quarry Poster Show is Evelynne Malangyaon!

Evelynne’s poster, along with the other winners from the Mega Quarry Poster show (Best Poster winners Joanna Lu, Anton Mwewa, Man Yan Ashley Yip and Honourable Mentions Elvis Shao, Zhi Gao, Paul Bernier and Lauren Livingston) will be exhibited this weekend in The View From Here: Artists Against the Mega-Quarry Show & Sale in Honeywood, ON.

About the exhibit: Artists Against the Mega-Quarry is fighting the Highland Companies application to turn 2,300 acres of Ontario’s best farmland into the second-largest open-pit mine in North America. Our pieces are shown and sold in support of a broader effort to stop the proposed mega-quarry.

Visit NoMegaQuarry.ca to learn more about the mega-quarry proposal and how it could affect agriculture, quality of life and water security for over a million people in Ontario.

LZ: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and the art that you create?

VA: I’m currently in my third year of Integrated Media with a minor in Wearable Technology. The art that I create is inspired from different social interactions that I encounter in public spaces.

What influenced your decision to major in Integrated Media?

It began with my interest in film and video which progressed to the performance and electronic work that I’m currently exploring.

What provoked your interests in Performance Art?

To be honest, I took performance as an elective towards my degree but I became more serious about it after taking the class, Body as Material with Johanna Householder.

Where does your inspiration come from? What are you really into right now?

As I mentioned before, my inspiration comes from various social interactions that I choose to involve myself with. People are my inspiration.

What are your favourite tools to work with?

My body.

Where are you most productive? Tell us a bit about your creative space.

Depends on what I’m working on, I don’t really have a space, the space can be anywhere as long as it provides the tools that you need.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge facing students or artists today?

The biggest challenge is within ourselves and the fear to explore the unknown.

What is the best art tip you ever received?

To consider your thought process of your work more thoroughly.

What is your working style?

I like to focus on one project at a time, preferably.

Do you set goals for yourself:

Yes, I set goals for myself. I can be very ambitious.

How do you promote yourself?

By outreaching, talking to people, that’s the best way. I feel like we’re losing touch with physical communication.

What advice would you give emerging artists or first year students?

Stay true to your practice no matter how discouraged you may get.

How would you describe yourself as an artist?

That’s an interesting question, I’ll get back to you on that.

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

I’ve been interested in art as long as I’ve been tracing sailor moon pictures, since I was like four, but I only got serious after high school when I realized I wanted to pursue art as a career.

What are the most useful skills you have learned at school?

How to efficiently showcase my work in order to display and contextualize it within a public setting.

Has attending art school helped you develop your own personal style? If so, how?

It has because it provoked me to think about what I wanted to explore and express through my work, which involves the social interactions through performance.

What advice would you give people considering enrolling in art school?

Just explore different art forms to create a diverse portfolio for yourself so that you may know what you are capable of.

What should potential art students look for in an art school or art institute?

If they have a certain practice, they should go to the school that has the best program for that practice.

What do you enjoy most about studying art?

I like the exploration of various art forms within the community and having a foundation of artists as an resource.

What is it that excites you most about the material you work with? Is there another medium you would like to work in?

In regards to the body as a material, I like the unpredictability of the body and it’s ever changing states.

What is your greatest achievement to date?

Is finding a sense of myself, just realizing things that I do are for a reason; to grow as a individual within this community.

What music are you listening to at the moment?

I’ve been listening to Billie Holiday.

What do you do to relax?

Swimming.

What are three likes and three dislikes of yours?

Likes: experiencing new things, social interactions, ice cream.

Dislikes: close minded people, time constraints, centipedes.

What is your favourite place to eat around OCADU?

Ginger’s.

What is your favourite thing about studying in Toronto?

I like studying in Toronto because there are a lot of opportunities, everything you need is in walking distance and easy access to resources.

What upcoming projects can we look forward to seeing from you in the future?

I’m currently working on a Wearable Technology piece for an upcoming show on April 25th called Technosapien.

What are your plans when you graduate?

To continue my practice, hopefully join a community where I can apply my skills.

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

Well, for those of you who are interested in my work I do have a vimeo account of  a few of my pieces and if you see me around school holla at me! And feel free to ask or interrogate me in my thought process of my works or anything that has interested you in this interview.

 

 

Ritual and Repetition is the latest exhibition at the Learning Zone to feature OCADU student talent. Currently on exhibition is artwork by the third year students’ Fibre: Concept Development Material Art & Design class of Lynne Heller.

On display are students’ projects which encompass the idea of ritual and repetition. The students were asked to make one hundred elements, and then assemble them into one completed piece. The concept of ritual and repetition is examined and explored using various materials, techniques, and activities such as collecting, marking, stitching, drawing, photography, weaving, unraveling, building, scratching, collaging and manipulating.

 

It was a fun day at the Learning Zone on Saturday April 7th, for those who participated in the grOCAD Hanging Garden Workshop. Marta, Laura and Mike, members of the grOCAD group, discussed and demonstrated alternative and creative ways to garden in an urban environment. The grOCAD group was formed by students, faculty and staff who are  interested in creating greener spaces on campus. Visit the Learning Zone to see the Window Farm project by grOCAD.

If you are interested learning more about the Window Farm project follow grOCAD on facebook or email ocadgrows@gmail.com.

 

 

 

 

 

The Learning Zone is pleased to announce Steampunk Sea Life by Liisa Aaltio, currently on exhibition at the International Eyes Gallery. Liisa is a 3rd year illustration student from Helsinki, Finland.

Learning Zone: Hi Liisa, can you tell us a little about yourself and the art that you create?

Liisa: I’m really fascinated by biology, nature and machines at the same time. A lot of my pieces have a little bit of darkness in them. I use a lot of patterning in my artwork.

LZ: Being an international student, do you have a favourite city?

Liisa: I have multiple favourites, bits and pieces of each city that makes them favourable to me… I would love to live in Paris, I love the food and the atmosphere, Boston, I’ve travelled there so many times, it’s my third home and Iceland is my get away city, summers in Helsinki are beautiful and I would love to live in Toronto.

Visit the LZ before April 20th, to see these amazing illustrations by Liisa.