About the Project
The Branscombe House Artist Residency takes place in the recently restored Edwardian style house located in the residential area of historic Steveston, BC on unceded Coast Salish territory. The 11-month residency program is an opportunity for artists to present free creative workshops for the community in exchange for 100% subsidized two-bedroom upstairs suite.
During my year as Artist-in-Residence at Branscombe, I explored themes of home and belonging and the personal yet universal experiences of finding, making, and losing a home.
The first phase of the project delved into the process of arrival in a new house and neighbourhood, asking the questions: What is this place? Who lives here? What is its history? How do I fit here? Collaborative community art projects examined these questions from a variety of angles, using maps as canvasses to express individual interpretations of the landscape, working with archival photos as art material to engage with local history, and even setting out on "artist walks" to observe, document and celebrate the overlooked details of this place. My own artwork on the process of arrival, titled Walking Atlas, began with a series of research walks, investigations, and conversations whose findings were documented in a collection of handmade maps, each representing a different perspective on the same local landscape. The maps were presented in an interactive installation at Doors Open Richmond, where copies were offered for guests to take with them and use as poetic guides to re-imagine familiar landscapes.
The second phase engaged with themes of connection and disconnection between neighbours and community members, investigating how we can use art and creativity to bridge gaps, create positive interactions, and feel more at home in our neighbourhoods. Community art projects included creating mischievous "Neighbourhood Love Notes" to post in our communities and making hand stamped gift bags to fill with treats to give to our neighbours. This phase concluded with the Richmond Culture Days presentation of Perfect Strangers, an interactive community building theatrical experience.
The final phase explored the loss, longing, and hope of leaving behind a home. Structured as a site specific immersive audio walk, Dream Home guided audience members listening to MP3 players through the empty Branscombe house and yard, pausing to hear memories unfold in each room. The recorded stories of Richmond community members with diverse experiences of leaving behind their own homes, from immigration to travel to homelessness and housing instability, were interwoven into the piece. This intimate and haunting experience attempted to honour and share the memories left behind in every vacated home, as well as invite audience members to join as witness in my own goodbye gesture to the house.
More info about the residency program can be found here.
During my year as Artist-in-Residence at Branscombe, I explored themes of home and belonging and the personal yet universal experiences of finding, making, and losing a home.
The first phase of the project delved into the process of arrival in a new house and neighbourhood, asking the questions: What is this place? Who lives here? What is its history? How do I fit here? Collaborative community art projects examined these questions from a variety of angles, using maps as canvasses to express individual interpretations of the landscape, working with archival photos as art material to engage with local history, and even setting out on "artist walks" to observe, document and celebrate the overlooked details of this place. My own artwork on the process of arrival, titled Walking Atlas, began with a series of research walks, investigations, and conversations whose findings were documented in a collection of handmade maps, each representing a different perspective on the same local landscape. The maps were presented in an interactive installation at Doors Open Richmond, where copies were offered for guests to take with them and use as poetic guides to re-imagine familiar landscapes.
The second phase engaged with themes of connection and disconnection between neighbours and community members, investigating how we can use art and creativity to bridge gaps, create positive interactions, and feel more at home in our neighbourhoods. Community art projects included creating mischievous "Neighbourhood Love Notes" to post in our communities and making hand stamped gift bags to fill with treats to give to our neighbours. This phase concluded with the Richmond Culture Days presentation of Perfect Strangers, an interactive community building theatrical experience.
The final phase explored the loss, longing, and hope of leaving behind a home. Structured as a site specific immersive audio walk, Dream Home guided audience members listening to MP3 players through the empty Branscombe house and yard, pausing to hear memories unfold in each room. The recorded stories of Richmond community members with diverse experiences of leaving behind their own homes, from immigration to travel to homelessness and housing instability, were interwoven into the piece. This intimate and haunting experience attempted to honour and share the memories left behind in every vacated home, as well as invite audience members to join as witness in my own goodbye gesture to the house.
More info about the residency program can be found here.
