The Spaces Between
Kate Shocrylas and Melanie Lourenco
November 7 - 28, 2006
Reception: November 11th, 6-8p


Kate Shocrylas, Portrait of Us, mixed media on canvas, 2006

Kate Shocrylas
The single certainty of balance is that it is precarious. Binary oppositions, tensions, battles, and conflicts exist between various physical and spiritual elements of the body and the mind to create a harmony of opposites. This interplay, both within and outside oneself, creates a complicated series of relationships and interconnections that is in constant flux.

Working from my experience as a dancer, I am interested in the essential materiality of the body in motion and the various ways in which it interacts with the spirit: exploring the many emotions bound up in dance, I strive to capture evanescent moments while creating a sense of dynamism and subtle drama. The moving human figure evokes balance and struggle, and is bound up in the various interrelationships, dialogues, and conflicts that make up the in- and external human experience. I am fascinated by dance as a visual art, as well as the connection that exists between all different forms of creative expression.
As an artist, I am constantly in motion. I believe in taking risks, testing limits, refusing to be “safe,” and, above all else, being honest and brave in what I produce and how I produce it. As a dancer, I am instinctively drawn to and interested in the expressive possibilities of the human body, not as a tool for communication but as a form of expression in and of itself.

Kate is a fourth year Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) student currently majoring in painting and specializing in large-scale mixed media drawings. She has been dancing since the age of four, and continues to do so as a member of and teacher for the Queen's Dance Club. Kate’s most recent work explores the darker side of dance, and focuses on the human figure in motion as a form of artistic expression.

Melanie Lourenco, Thought Static (and other bodily traces), oil and varnish, 2006

Melanie Lourenco
Melanie Lourenco's interactive installation, Thought Static (and other bodily traces), deals with how our range of emotions and patterns of thought function on a spectrum. The painted images suggest the presence of the body as a physical manifestation of the thoughts passing through the mind, and aims to draw attention to the unceasing battle of binaries.

The series, I ate the source looks at the relationship between our bodies and vegetables, and the subtle processes and complexities that constitute both bodily systems and the workings of an organic vegetable garden, and reflecting on the importance of harmonious relationships between the various parts of each system.

Melanie Lourenco has lived a good portion of her life in Flamborough Ontario, which is practically in the middle of nowhere. She spent her summer working on her parents’ organic farm and enjoyed the experience thoroughly. Currently, Melanie is working through her final year in the BFA Honours program at Queen’s and plans to teach yoga and continue making artwork after graduation.