Artist Residency, Château Orquevaux, France, October 3-17, 2023
Shed Shateau commemorates the loss of sheds everywhere, and the way of life that went with them. Made from 150 photos (8.5”x 11”) afixed to the wall, the installation replicates Jack Weeks’ shed in Duntara, Newfoundland. Built in late 1800 Jack’s shed was a shop for woodworking, boatbuilding, and the repair and storage of fishing gear. It was also where classes were held before the school was built, where town meetings took place and the occasional Sunday mass was said. Reconstructed at an artist residency in a French chateau, Shed Shateau transmutes into a place for dreams and creativity.
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Exhibition, Produit Rien, Montréal, Québec. November 17-26, 2023
Worksite / Chantier describes the conceptual, creative, and physical labour Catherine Beaudette and Katherine Knight undertake in their studios and through interactions with their environments. The exhibition combines Knights’ posed photographs with Beaudette’s oil paintings that propose a rewilded city where construction site debris merges into the transitional zone of reflective water. Walking and cycling in her urban and rural environments, Beaudette’s observations are transformed into talismans of experience through the methodical, meditative work of painting.
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Artist Residency, Cephalonia, Greece, April 17-May 6, 2023
MetaStructure
Structure is ubiquitous. From plants, flowers and the underwater ocean forests to the manmade environments we construct, an underlying foundation anchors each network. Mixing seaweed, sand and clay into handmade bricks, Beaudette assembles the blocks into a skeletal framework that recalls the abandoned structures seen all around Greece, and the ancient Acropolis of Athens. Drawings and photos of metastructure found in the immediate environment were part of this work made and exhibited at the Ionion Centre Artist Residency in Cephalonia.
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Exhibition, Northumberland Fisheries Museum, Pictou, Nova Scotia. June 28-September 17, 2023
Seaweed Bouquets & Oyster Clusters
The ocean is populated with a plethora of exotic organisms, which include an array of seaweeds and oysters often seen as common ‘weeds and shells’. In this exhibition Beaudette challenges old perceptions, highlighting our ocean’s beauty and complexities. Assembled and photographed on the beach, Seaweed Bouquets are imbued with an ethereal elegance. Oyster Clusters that proliferate on the shore like fully formed sculptures artfully arranged, are collected and painted in the studio. Working with these keystone species, Beaudette hopes to sharpen our environmental consciousness.
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