in between daydreams: Emily Geen

Growing up, my mom would doodle on scrap paper while she chatted on the phone. I would doodle in the margins of my notepad during class. Assignments would come back with stickers for a job well done. Glittery, girlish stickers would adorn my bedroom vanity mirror and the backseat car windows. This piece relays these scraps, mementos, and markers for a mind in other places in the form of laser etched acrylic panel. Like apparitions, these motifs shift in perceptibility depending on the environmental light, which causes the strength of the shadows they cast to continually change. Imagery of howling hounds, butterflies, flowers, scribbles and squiggles feature prominently, pointing to a whimsical, ephemeral and escapist vision for a childhood me (and a younger you, too?).

Emily Geen is based in Victoria, BC, and works with themes of nostalgia via photography, sculpture, installation and video. Originally from Lake Country, BC, Emily received her BFA at the University of British Columbia Okanagan (2012), followed by her MFA at the University of Victoria (2015). She has had recent solo exhibitions at Kitchenette Contemporary and Empty Gallery (Victoria). Her work has been included in group shows at Support (London, ON), Gallery 44 (Toronto), and Gallery 295 (Vancouver). She has participated in residencies at the Banff Centre (2016) and at MOMENTUM Worldwide in Berlin (2017). Emily teaches sessionally at the University of Victoria.

Image Info:
Detail from “in between daydreams”
Laser etched acrylic panel
58x40”
2021