ARTIST TALK

Nurielle Stern and Nicholas Crombach
September 15, 2021, 6pm–7:30pm
Free + virtual program



Artists Nurielle Stern and Nicholas Crombach are drawn to subject matter derived from the complex, problematic, and often mythologized human relationship to the natural world, from historical as well as contemporary viewpoints. Their work engages in alchemical transformations of both materials and ideas, exploring narratives of human exploitation and transgression, the monstrous, mythic and hybrid.

The artists will discuss their collaborative process behind their exhibition, Whale Fall. Their process includes gathering source material from the Royal Ontario Museum natural history departments, and the Toronto Zoo veterinary department. They will also discuss how the work evolved through conversation and experimentation, and share images of their process, followed by a moderated Q&A.

A recording and transcript of the event will be posted and available soon. Special thanks to the Provost's Promotion of the Arts at Queen's University for supporting Whale Fall and associated programs through the George Taylor Richardson Memorial Fund.




Image: Nicholas Crombach and Nurielle Stern, Jenny Haniver (detail), 2019, glazed porcelain, cast aluminum | Courtesy of the artists










NURIELLE STERN

Stern (MFA 2014, Alfred University, NY) is a Toronto-based sculpture and installation artist. Her most recent exhibition, Fable, is a large-scale installation commissioned by the Gardiner Museum. Stern is the 2019 recipient of the Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramic Art, and a 2020 recipient of the NCECA Emerging Artist Award. Her work is in the collections of the Gardiner Museum (Toronto, ON), the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery (Waterloo, ON), and the Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art (Alfred, NY).



Nicholas Crombach

Crombach (BFA 2012, OCAD University, Toronto) is an artist working in Kingston, ON. Crombach has been awarded the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Award. His recent solo exhibitions include Behind Elegantly Carved Wooden Doors (Art Mûr Montreal in 2017) and The End Of The Chase (New Art Projects, London, in 2018, Art Mûr Berlin in 2018, and Art Mûr Montréal in 2019). In 2021, Crombach completed Horse and Cart, a public artwork commissioned by the City of Kingston for Victoria Park.

Stern and Crombach began working together in Toronto in the fall of 2017. Their collaborative exhibition, Whale Fall, is on view at Union Gallery this Fall 2021, and was first shown at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in 2019. Whale Fall was produced with the support of the Ontario Arts Council. Their collaborative work has also been exhibited at Art Mûr Gallery, Montreal, for their 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Terra Nova. Together, they explore subject matter derived from the problematic and mythologized human relationship to the natural world.