BIO
Myken McDowell is a visual artist and educator based in Edmonton (Treaty 6). She received a BFA from Concordia University in 2016 and an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Alberta in 2019. Full of questions about memory, place, and their influence on one another, her interdisciplinary artwork has earned scholarships and awards and has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She takes pictures of empty houses and collects other people's love letters.
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Artist Statement
In my art practice I use print and video to address themes of memory, place, and how the objects of our attention shape us. Since 2019, I have been seeking out abandoned and unoccupied homes, spending time with them and recording it all with a video camera. Always avoiding panoramic “establishing shots” in favour of the quieter moments inside—an insect performs acrobatics on a piece of scaffolding, the curtains take a breath. I keep a diligent record of absence and collect the vibrant leftover trash.
This exploration is not about the architecture and what its design might tell us about the inhabitant or the landscape. It is about what spaces are trying to say. It’s about delving deep into the question, “What does this wood or concrete frame remember?” So, I select stills from my recordings of absence, produce a series of prints, and then scan them to create new animated works that act as an echo of the original footage. Here, the abandoned space is the actor rather than the setting for, say, the antics of engaging children—a “Home Movie” turned on its head.
Moving between analog (print) and digital, time based formats (video), I control hundreds of variables per frame. Small process changes (like how I wipe and print the plate) can alter the results dramatically. The source material for each piece goes through several filters, and the resulting artwork is dramatically different from the experience of being there: a new narrative emerges. The space has a voice of its own.
This exploration is not about the architecture and what its design might tell us about the inhabitant or the landscape. It is about what spaces are trying to say. It’s about delving deep into the question, “What does this wood or concrete frame remember?” So, I select stills from my recordings of absence, produce a series of prints, and then scan them to create new animated works that act as an echo of the original footage. Here, the abandoned space is the actor rather than the setting for, say, the antics of engaging children—a “Home Movie” turned on its head.
Moving between analog (print) and digital, time based formats (video), I control hundreds of variables per frame. Small process changes (like how I wipe and print the plate) can alter the results dramatically. The source material for each piece goes through several filters, and the resulting artwork is dramatically different from the experience of being there: a new narrative emerges. The space has a voice of its own.