Courtesy of Harcourt House

Order, Meet Chaos | Liz Miller somehow keeps both forces in balance.

DETAILS

Cataclysmic Rescue Mission
Harcourt House Gallery
Thursday, March 26 - Saturday, April 25

More in: Exhibits

This week, Jill and Mandy ascend the many stairs of Harcourt House and are pleasantly greeted by Liz Miller’s Cataclysmic Rescue Mission.

Mandy: It was such a pleasant, unexpected experience to walk into a very full Harcourt House on Thursday. Most of the opening night crowd were gathered in the front gallery space where the FAVA workshop exhibit was on display. But we managed to weave our way through, and found the surprising blast of colour that is Liz Miller’s work on the other side.

Jill: And oh, what a blast it was! Miller’s work combines crafty materials such as felt, foam, and headpins to create an enormous site-specific installation of exploding colours and repetitive shapes. She has meticulously cut out abstract, symmetrical shapes from her materials and fastened them onto the walls.

Mandy: I find it amusing that this gallery space keeps getting used for installation work — it’s such an awkward environment! Miller does do a pretty good job with it, though; she manages to make the work the focus, not the spatial limitations. The exhibition feels like she was really responding to the space as the piece was being formed.

Jill: I am extremely impressed by how well Miller has utilized the Main Gallery so seamlessly; the work is painstakingly produced and thoughtfully placed, despite the cramped space. (And that bad, bad carpet!) This show grabs your attention and does not let go. It’s bright, intricate, exciting, and foamy! But I was interested in the question you asked when on Thursday: do we like this work just because it’s so bright and exciting? Is that it?

Mandy: It’s hard to say. I suspect my own initial reaction was so positive because Miller uses colour and material in a really aggressive way. You kind of get punched in the face with it. Then there’s all that detail of the varying materials and repeating shapes, and even the coloured bulb heads of the pins. It’s a total visual saturation effect that becomes sustainable the more you look.

Jill: And the more you look, the more engrossing it becomes. The Harcourt website describes Miller’s theme as “simultaneous order and chaos”; I think this is pretty accurate. You feel overwhelmed when you first walk into the room, but you soon realize there’s order to the madness.

Mandy: There’s also a kind of absurdity to the whole thing that I find really appealing. Even the title of the show, Cataclysmic Rescue Mission — that’s darn funny to me. I didn’t really feel the whole order/chaos theme that’s in her statement, but I can understand where it’s coming from.

Jill: Kudos to her for departing from the usual connotations attached to those ideas.

Mandy: Kudos to you for using the word “kudos.” But I’m curious: what do you think the usual connotations attached to those ideas would be?

Jill: I don’t know; all I know is, I haven’t seen themes of repetition, technological systems, chaos, and order get illustrated quite so ... well, colourfully and cheerfully as they are here.

Mandy: Ah! So that’s it, then — we just wanted to see some happy. I’m down with that.

Jill: You know I am always down for that. It’s almost springtime, people! Get up to Harcourt and get a preview of warmer, sunnier days!