[BCMA] Studies in Sea Ice - April 10 Exhibit Opening/reception

Wed Apr 7 20:22:43 PDT 2010

Studies in Sea Ice - Exhibit Opening and Reception

On Saturday, April 10, photographer Roberta Holden welcomes guests to the
opening of Studies in Sea Ice with an informal reception from 1 to 3 pm.
Studies in Sea Ice is a new exhibit in the Teekay Gallery at the Vancouver
Maritime Museum. The Museum is located at 1905 Ogden Avenue in Vanier Park.
The event is included with admission to the Museum. Studies in Sea Ice will
be on display through the summer. 

Who:            Photographer Roberta Holden

What:           Studies in Sea Ice exhibit opening and reception

Where:         Teekay Gallery, Vancouver Maritime Museum

When:           Saturday, April 10 - 1 to 3 pm

                   Exhibit continues through summer 2010

Exhibit Background

Focusing her camera on the extraordinarily complex and dynamic qualifies of
the frozen ocean, Studies in Sea Ice is a work of colour archival that
features archival prints taken from a helicopter between the communities of
Ummanaq and Nuussuaq on the northwest coast of Greenland. This is a region
that has undergone a dramatic warming trend over the past ten years. The
photos are part of Roberta's Artist in Residency at the Upernavik Museum in
Upernavik, Greenland in March 2009.

A continuation of a project begun in 2007 as an Official Artist of the
International Polar Year, Studies in Sea Ice approaches the themes of
Roberta's past polar work from a new vantage point, speaking more directly,
more urgently, to the essential vulnerability of the planet. Disorientating
in its lack of scale (the vast tracts of sea ice could easily be mistaken
for the microscopic, emphasizing the multiple layers of our spatial
engagement), these abstract images reveal both the power and fragility of
the frozen world. The cracking and buckling of sea ice suggest, also, a
metaphorical fracturing and compression, a tearing of the fabric of the
planetary ecosystem, a rupturing of our symbiotic relationship with nature
under intense human-induced pressures. 

Roberta Holden - Artist Statement

Drawing on a wide range of unique life experiences as well as struggles,
Roberta Holden's recent photography can be seen to reflect a lifelong
passion for the remote and rugged spaces of or planet. The themes of motion
and impermanence that connect much of her work can be traced to her many
years on the open ocean, both during her 14 years living aboard a sailboat
as a child and later, as a professional sailor on the single-handed offshore
racing circuit. Her first opportunity to explore the Polar Regions came
during a two-month, six-woman mountaineering and sailing expedition to
Antarctica in 2002. Five years later, she returned as a photographer, lead
climber and crew aboard another sailboat. Applying her studies in
glaciology, atmospheric science and Arctic studies to her photographic
practice, Roberta has since photographed throughout Arctic Canada and
Greenland.

In line with contemplative traditions such as Zen Art or Miksang, Roberta's
photographic practice emphasizes the experiential qualities of seeing as a
path to awakening. From this philosophical perspective, there is no
distinction between the photograph, the photographed and the photographer,
no subject and object, no seer and seen, no barriers between mind and space.
It is all experience. Seeing, really seeing is a meditative act that
broadens and deepens one's awareness. Once basic technical considerations
are mastered, the camera is no more than an extension of the mind, a tool to
focus one's attention on space and time.

Roberta's style of photography shares many similarities to the Japanese
aesthetic of Wabi-Sabi, which embraces the imperfect, the impermanent, the
incomplete ("nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect"),
as well as the earthy, the natural and the minimalist. It relates to
feelings of solitude, melancholy, asperity and desolation. Through her
subjective lens as a photographer, Roberta seeks to open our eyes and our
hearts to issues of social and environmental justice.

The Vancouver Maritime Museum tells the stories of Canada's ties to the
Pacific with an emphasis on Canada's gateway port communities in the greater
Vancouver region. As a centre for life-long learning, the Museum interprets
our ongoing interaction with the sea through exhibitions and programs for
people of all ages. 

Vancouver Maritime Museum

1905 Ogden Avenue in Vanier Park, Vancouver

Phone 604 257-8300

www.vancouvermaritimemuseum.com <http://www.vancouvermaritimemuseum.com/>

info at vancouvermaritimemuseum.com

Museum Hours: 

Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 5 pm; Sunday noon to 5 pm and closed Mondays

Summer hours begin May 18 - daily 10 am to 5 pm.

Admission Rates:

Adult $10; youth and senior $7.50; children 5 and under free

Media contact for Roberta Holden:

Stephen Irving
Manager, No Barriers Photography
stephen at nobarriersphotography.com
778-330-5775
www.nobarriersphotography.com

Debbie Tardiff

250 738 0188  Home office 

dtardiff at shaw.ca

Vancouver Maritime Museum

1905 Ogden Avenue in Vanier Park

Vancouver, BC  V6J 1A3

604 257-8300  Phone

604 737-2621  Fax

www.vancouvermaritimemuseum.com

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