Process, Purpose, Play: a gallery residency
Jessica Lynn Wiebe
January 24 — February 9, 2025
open 12-6pm Fridays and Saturdays; 12-3pm Sundays or by appointment
Artist Talk: Sunday, February 9th at 1pm
About her practice, Wiebe states:
Is art frivolous? This question pops into my head often – especially when I give myself space and permission to play and create without an agenda or having a clear intention.
Lately creativity has been planning and sequencing yoga classes, diving into music, and putting together playlists that energetically fit the theme, sequence, and class style. I keep finding new songs and musicians that resonate and weave them together with ease.
In contrast, I have been feeling a deep resistance in wanting to dig into my usual art practice that centres around themes of war, conflict, and the military. I note the duality of this heavier work with the work I do as a yoga instructor and my love of connecting with and documenting nature, my hikes, cold water swims, and living life as much as I can outside. I crave a solution where I can bring these two seemingly opposing worlds together in my art practice – I know that everything is interconnected – but I am unsure how to fuse these dualities together and with what medium.
Instead of stressing about this, I am going to create a space at HERMES where I can just play with an open mind, without an agenda, without a fixed idea of what I will make, and let what will unfold, unfold. I will trust the process and dig into the deep energetic center between black and white and into the grey, messy, chaotic area that might not have any meaning in the moment but towards finding meaning. I will keep making little collages because I find so much joy in rearranging imagery and text. I will keep taking photos. I will keep journaling. I will keep moving my body. I will keep making playlists. And instead of questioning what the meaning is, I will just accept it as it is, in each moment.
Consider this Part 1 of a lifelong project.
Jessica Lynn Wiebe draws from her lived military experience to create interdisciplinary work that centres on militarism, military life, and commemoration. This work is often gritty, in concept, materials, and approach. Wiebe’s work reveals the messiness and chaos that is war in hopes of encouraging dialogue on war and conflict. By listening to others' lived experiences, we begin to know ourselves more deeply.
Wiebe was born and raised in Brandon, MB on Treaty 2 territory and currently practices in K’jipuktuk/Halifax, NS.