NIAGARA’S VR ART GALLERY
Artist Pamphlet
Ashley Marazzo - Rebirth of a Shieldmaiden
Ashley Marazzo is an Artist and Pyrate Reenactor who enjoys life’s little moments which people usually find mundane. She seeks to inspire and remind others about the hidden treasures in life. Such moments are worth more than Gold for their ever transient nature is the greatest gift. If not so fragile a thing, Life would lose its meaning.
She grew up in Niagara Falls, the History and Nature of the Region wove itself into her being and are a continual source of inspiration.
The River always, inevitably calls us home.
Ashley prefers to work with natural materials. She believes that working with mediums such as leather, stone, metal and bone which were also available to our Ancestors across the Earth assists in linking us to the past. It helps us remember our History, which is important so we do not repeat the mistakes and misdeeds of the past; both of our own making and of our Ancestors. It also helps to remind us of our resilience and hidden strength to endure during then thrive after whatever the World throws our way.
Ashley has exhibited Installations at the Carmel Fine Art Festival (“Immortal Garden” 2017),
Niagara Night of Art (2017 “Immortal Eden”, 2018 “Primal Roots”, 2019 “Phoenix Pyre”). The Norse Wedge Tent from “Primal Roots” also travelled and made an appearance at festivals and shows across Ontario.
Artist’s Statement
I have PTSD and have been utilizing Art as a healing tool. Experiencing the fragmented self and disassociation can leave one feeling foreign in their own skin. I started plaster casting myself as a way to reclaim my body and heal the fragments of the past. I chose to use real metal leaf on this piece consisting of Copper, Copper and Zinc, and 24k Gold to highlight that we are all unique and precious treasures, also as an interpretive form of armour.
Going through Trauma can make one feel dead on the inside, like one is walking through a movie whose characters flow around you but never fully engage, feeling like one is always on the outskirts of life, dead and invisible to the world outside of ourselves. Healing from that Trauma is a hard fought glorious rebirth. As such I created the mask to give the impression of a Funeral shroud, but with a movement which is Wraith-like to convey the feeling of rising from the dead. This Symbolizes the rebirth of our strength, autonomy, and resilience.
We may not be responsible for what happened to us; however, it is our responsibility to fight the battle and heal ourselves so we can once again start living fully and be ever present in the moment.
Social Media
Facebook - midgardmetalworks
Instagram - @midgardmetalworks
Website - midgardmetalworks.com
Carlee McTavish - Pandemic Blues
Carlee McTavish is a teacher and artist living on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, Neutral, and Mississauga nations in Niagara, Canada. She enjoys exploring social justice issues in her embroideries as much as she enjoys painting pop culture and silly animal portraits in acrylic. Recently she's also been playing with illustration and papercut collage. Carlee's goal is to make art that puts a smile on your face. You can find her weird, quirky, and colourful work on Instagram.
Artist’s Statement
Pandemic Blues is a series of five mini artworks made using a limited palette of ultramarine blue, titanium white, and pyrrole orange over a red base. The edges of the artworks are intentionally left red and unpolished to help show the raw emotions I was feeling at the time. What started out as a warm up exercise turned into a project of its own.
These artworks were made in February 2021. February, though the shortest month, is often difficult for people due to the cold, dark, gloomy weather. This year, it was extra difficult for everyone due to the pandemic, and for me personally due to grief and stress.
Each artwork in this series is of a photo I took between December and February of small, brief moments I experienced. A wary but cute new squirrel friend sizing me up. A beautiful, peaceful sunrise. A warm bowl of my favourite tempura udon soup. Refracted sunlight making a rainbow on my hand. My favourite cozy woolly socks over old, holey leggings. These things are reminders that even during the toughest of times, there are still moments of joy to be found.
Social Media
Instagram - @carleemctavish.art
Debra Jackson-Jones - I Read Your Obituary 1000 Times
Debra Jackson Jones is an artist and educator who has exhibited in galleries throughout Southern Ontario as well as Buffalo, New York. She is a founding member of the side by each art collective (1990-2002), has sat on the boards of the Niagara Artists Centre, and the Niagara Falls Art Gallery and currently serves on the Public Art Advisory Task Force in Niagara Falls. A mixed media artist, she currently divides her time between Niagara and London, Ontario.
Artist’s Statement
Loss. The pandemic brought loss to us all in some form or another. Early in the pandemic I read the obituary of an old friend, and although we had not seen each other in years, and our paths may not have crossed again, the loss of that possibility was profound. As we emerge from the darkest days and isolation of the pandemic I wonder how many more relationships will be lost, not by death but by loss of connection. And will that be okay, if we know we both survive?
Social Media
Instagram - @dljacksonjones1
Emily Andrews - Flame-Curtained Horizon
Emily Andrews is a multi-media artist, actress, and musician from Niagara Falls, Ontario. She works in a variety of media, including oil painting, collage, installation art, and sculpture. A true surrealist at heart, her work is often inspired by science, nature, history, and her own strange dreams. Through her art and music, Emily is very active in the Niagara region, participating in events such as Niagara Night of Art and In the Soil Arts Festival. In 2012, the Ontario Trillium Foundation chose her as an artist in residence and in 2014 she was the recipient of the Allister Young Arts & Culture Endowment Fund. Her most recent series, Strange Happenings & Rare Findings, features surrealistic oil paintings that explore bizarre and unexplained scenarios in a mid-century setting. Emily has a BA in Visual Arts from Brock University and has taught Observational Drawing and 3D Design Material Exploration in the Art & Design Foundation program at Niagara College.
Artist’s Statement
Flame-Curtained Horizon deals with moments of crisis and the way that individuals choose to respond in adverse situations. This hand-cut collage is part of a series entitled, Far From Ordinary: A Series of Dreamscapes Made with Very Precise Slices and was created using images from various magazines, playbills, and other ephemera.
Social Media
Facebook - ms.emily.andrews
Instagram - @ms.emily.andrews
Website - emilyandrews.ca
Heather Fraser - Incoming
Heather Fraser is a Niagara Falls Canada based visual artist. As a child, Heather began doodling as a hobby, to help with anxiety . Her self taught, abstract works told stories of hope and confusion. This freehand, intuitive style would become Heather’s signature style; incorporating birds, hidden images and powerful palettes.
Today, her works are sought after by those who love to look, to be mesmerized. Within each piece there’s a story, woven together by fine line ink works.
As an emerging artist, Heather is expanding her realm into murals, spoken word and photography.
Artist’s Statement
Our world has been forever changed.
Incoming information at break neck speed, environmental degradation ramped up by greed. I wanted this piece to feel overwhelming, stressed out BUT still trying. This is how I see us coping over the last 2 years. Families torn. Division. And yet… if we really look closely, perhaps we can see that things WILL balance out. Love and connection SUSTAIN US. This piece honors the busy, the many, the frontline, the loss.
Incoming reminds me to keep going, to keep seeking pleasure.
Social Media
Instagram - @heatherfraserart
Joe Cleary - Emotional Robots
Joseph Cleary graduated from Toronto film school in 2005. He is a video game designer and instructor, and also owns The White Whale vintage shop located in downtown Niagara Falls.
Artist’s Statement
“Emotional Robots” is a series of small robot sculptures comprised of found everyday objects. By taking often discarded items from everyday life and saving them from the landfill, this projects aims to show how we can repurpose and use what’s often considered garbage to make something new.
Social Media
Instagram - @the_white_whale
Kalista Mackisey - Good Luck, Coyote
Kalista Mackisey was born in the city of Niagara Falls Canada but has always longed for the natural and wildlife settings off the grid. She has introduced herself to the art world from a young age and is self taught within many areas, mediums, and how these factors can coexist in the art world. She is a game designer but in her off time still focuses on jobs that work with the native wildlife. Some of her art reflects her own battles with mental health and how it can be viewed in bold colours and strange artistic choices as an emotional release. The biggest theme present in her artwork is nature and the way nature interacts with humans. She uses multiple mediums on canvas aside from acrylics as this creates texture within her artworks and represents that there are many different pieces and parts that hold nature and living beings together. Her art is not only influenced by regular nature sources, but also glimpses of nature between pop culture as well from her video game background.
Artist’s Statement
In all of my paintings you can typically see major themes of animals and native wildlife. With the theme of this curation being Resilient Innovation, it felt right to choose one of my favourite animals to work with. The coyote has always represented adaptability through many cultures which is why it is so important to me on a personal level. In this painting the coyote can be seen contorted into the confines of the canvas because he is adaptable to whatever his environment throws at him which relates to me in my personal life. Always being able to survive the conditions of the environment before moving into the next is key to the circle of life. Being able to include my own stylized cartoonish choices and colours just made it that much more cathartic to me. This piece was very personal to me and was also a lot of fun to layer on top of and continuously work on. Thanks for looking!
Social Media
Instagram - @cough_syrup_coyote
Katie Mazi - The Monarch Still Migrates Even If My City Is Asleep
Katie Mazi is an artist based in the Niagara region. Mazi’s installation work immerses viewers into subversive environments, while her photos illustrate vivid and deceptive scenes. Mazi is most interested in using everyday objects with various media to highlight the absurdity of human behaviour, especially in relation to non-human animals and the natural world in the age of capitalism.
Artist’s Statement
Found Objects in the Niagara Region During a Global Pandemic (ongoing)
Social Media
Instagram - @visual.rituals
Sandra Dam - Up From The Ashes
Sandra Dam is a self-taught artist from Vineland, Ontario. She uses many mediums including acrylics, watercolours, inks, and pencil crayon. Her inspiration is most often derived from the Canadian landscape and wildlife.
Artist’s Statement
Through the process of creating my art I am able to release the difficult aspects of life and fall in love with the world around me.
Social Media
Facebook - theartfulmusician
Instagram - @delve.intoart
Sylvia McCormick - Hare’s Foot Ink Cap
Sylvia Lee McCormick is new to the local art scene, and is very active in the Downtown Niagara Falls community. Working as a barista at Third Space Café and being surrounded by local art and artists has inspired her to create her own works in many mediums. From painting canvases to Dungeons & Dragons miniatures to trying out pastels, she fearlessly dives into new mediums and techniques, constantly pushing past her comfort zone to evolve as an emerging artist.
Artist’s Statement
At the start of the pandemic, I had a hard time convincing myself to leave my apartment for anything but work or groceries. Luckily, I have some dear friends who took to exploring nature and posting the pictures of the wonderful things they found on their adventures online. These pictures inspired me to dust off my childhood dream of becoming an artist, pick up my brushes once more, and create a small series of nature paintings. The sheer variety of local fauna never fails to amaze me, and I found motivation in the resiliency of fungi, in particular. It was challenging to get the translucency of this particular mushroom correct, and this painting gives me an incredible sense of achievement.
Social Media
Instagram - @sly_paints