marisa gallemit is an Ottawa-born artist currently exploring sculpture as a medium. After studying film at Carleton University and at the New York Film Academy, she turned her focus to working with textiles, creating soft furnishings. Her newest work is inspired by and constructed with recycled and repurposed materials, concentrating on organic forms and natural textures.

les artistes

Monday, May 31, 2010 @ 1:12 AM by marisa
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what an exhausting day - slept quite late, worked last night and had  several post-work drinks with the ladies.  it was one of those saturday night chirps where we deconstructed and analyzed it all.  the power of women!  the way we can support and soothe and listen, what a blessing!  

early afternoon came pretty quickly after a snooze and trae and i were off to the chinatown remixed 2010 artists' tour.  since most of the artists were unable to see all the of the 30 or so venues the day of the vernissage, the festival organizers put together this time for the artists to walk the tour together, led by centretown icon, china doll and her dog, mango. 
 we did it in about 3hrs and it was an awesome opportunity to have most of the artists on hand to say a little bit about their work and showcase the venues.  trae was such a trooper, he stayed with it the whole time propped up with snacks and soda pops and dog petting.

it was pretty inspiring to see the work and hear the intent and the process behind it.  we even came out of it with 2 pieces of art for our own collection - lino cuts by guillermo trejo.  amazing, simple, graphic!  

i met so many warm and engaged artists in my community, made me feel like i was somehow settling into this relatively new role of mine, that of someone who makes stuff.

(i love this piece of a sleeping man, like a grandpa who's fallen to sleep in the easy chair after dinner)

 



this was trae's selection, 'dientes de oro' by guillermo trejo.  gold teeth!
then tonight after trae hit the hay, i read the latest Interview magazine cover to cover (Madonna being on the front).  i read a great interview by tobey maguire of the artist KAWS.  the guy started as a skater and graffiti artist and has now broken into the rarified art world scene.  what i loved about the interview was his take on art vs. product, that there is no distinction, that 'mass produced' objects are no less valuable to the collector than original masterpieces.  and so, to him creating t-shirts, figurine toys or canvases is all the same creative process.  and likewise, there is no less inventiveness, creative juice, inspiration or hardwork going into the making of a humble collectible product than into the sculpting or painting or drawing of a one-off.

very thought-provoking indeed.


images via guillermo trejo and interview


splurge

Friday, May 28, 2010 @ 4:22 PM by marisa
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treasures:
i went shopping today.  felt the need to treat myself since i skinned my knees this week in a hyper-embarrassing softball accident.  never thought i would say those words, but there it is.  softball is proving to be a rough lover (and into humiliation apparently).  so today i wandered around, dropped off some library books and hit the new  Murale store here in Ottawa.  

never been much of a beauty product hoarder, but i've been coveting my very own bottle of Chanel Allure for at least a decade.  the day has come!  the shea butter is for a somewhat debilitating and prolonged bout of eczema on my fingers and the verbena soap was selected strictly to get over a hundred bucks to score a bit of a discount (and because it smells soooo fresh).

tonight, i'm heading to La Petite Mort Gallery for a friend-of-a-friend's vernissage and then over to the SAW Gallery for the Winchester Warm  CD launch.  should be pretty pretty good.


 it's a lovely day in Canada's capital, but i think the heat wave is getting to people (myself included?).  folks were honking and shaking fists all over downtown today.  time to chill, people - life's not that bad.

 (winchester warm: matt godin & jon pearce)


bienvenue

@ 2:00 PM by marisa
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okay, here goes.  time to put out the feelers, to utilize the tactile organs.



vibrissa
noun

1 : one of the stiff hairs that are located especially about the nostrils or on other parts of the face in many mammals and that often serve as tactile organs
2 : one of the bristly feathers near the mouth of many and especially insectivorous birds that may help to prevent the escape of insects