NATURAL DISASTER
COMING IN JANUARY
Natural Disaster presents five characters interacting with a Western Red Cedar in the lush and unique Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island. The old growth Western Red Hemlock and Douglas-fir trees found in Cathedral Grove have been both a source of wonder and aggravation for environmentalists. This one-of-a-kind forest has existed under the threat of logging and development since its discovery. If it weren’t for the few protestors who stood (and continue to stand) in the way of development, the giant trees would be long toppled, never to be enjoyed again. The characters in this project are presented in such a way as to reflect upon this problem that our province faces every day: the struggle to preserve the wilderness which surrounds us, while inviting the world to come and enjoy it with us. Everyone has a connection with nature, whether they acknowledge it or not, and the work which makes up Natural Disaster reflects the chain of command which sometimes breaks its hierarchal order as individuals begin to listen to one another.





















November 27 to December 19, 2009
Opening Friday, November 27, 7pm
Suzanne Bean, Ali Bosworth, Megan Dickie,
Jim Gaines, Chris Gillespie, Brian Grison, Daniel Laskarin
John Luna, J McLaughlin, Mary-Lynn Ogilvie,
Robert Randall, Shawn Shepherd, Caleb Speller,
Nathan Veldhoen, Robert Wise, The Woodpile Collective

In the exhibition [re]Gifted, the curatorial collective Little Rubber Duck has asked participating artists to reconsider and repackage the seasonal art object. Using as a point of departure the diseconomies of scale inherent in art production in relation to this season of über-consumption, [re]Gifted is a response to the culture of excess and redundancy in the midst of the collapse of dwindling resources and collapsing financial institutions.

MAD AT THE ART GALLERY

June 14 2009
Mad Hatter's Tea Party
1:00pm-5:00pm.
Tickets available at the Gallery May 1, 2009. Dress to excess or your Sunday best. Journey through the Art Gallery and the Asian garden for a whimsical, decadent afternoon. Sip exotic and unusual teas with sweet and savoury treats while enjoying games, riddles, fortune-telling, and auction. Don't be late for this very important date! Supported by Silk Road, Pink Sugar and Little Piggy's. Tickets $40.

The following artists will also be participating:

Charlotte Campbell

Monica McGarry

Mary Loria

Megan Dickie

Caleb Speller

SUPPORT LOCAL GALLERIES!

April 10 to 25, 2009

RPM: The Lost Art of LP Covers
A Fundraising Show & Sale
Opening: Friday, April 10, 7pm

The art of the record sleeve, remixed and remastered by more than 50 artists.

SHOWING AT:
Deluge Contemporary Art
636 Yates Street
Victoria, BC, Canada V8W 1L3

PLANT LIFE

Showing at the Ministry of Casual Living

1442 Haultain

February 20th - 28th

Closing Party Saturday, Feb. 28th, 10am - 12noon

PLANT LIFE

We reserve places to walk through nature, and reserve places to destroy it. We inherently protect bits and pieces of it while we naturally battle against its confines. Our relationship with plants enlivens our senses by creating endless experiences and questions. We connect with their textures, patterns, and fragrances; we are shaded from the sun by them, while we eat their leaves.

Plant Life gives the viewer a physical, visual and, auditory connection with nature. A pathway made of dirt leads the viewer to a few drawings, the first of which are lushly exaggerated representations of nature. Further along the path lies a portrait of Dede, an Indonesian who has been dubbed Tree-man due to his curse of having bark-like warts grow all over his body. Individual soundscapes, reworked from Stevie Wonders Album Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants, spread throughout the space and pay tribute to natures persistent melodic hum.

Plant Life is an art show which can be seen, felt, and listened to.

ART BY
caleb speller

SOUNDSCAPES BY
aaron speller

PAPER DOLLS IN PICTURES

PAPER DOLLS

Opening Saturday January 31st At 6PM

Showing as part of the Victoria Film Festival at the Fifty Fifty Arts Collective (2516 Douglas)

*Inspired by the creative meanderings of Henry Darger and his relationship with childhood, and Todd Field’s cautionary film Little Children, Paper Dolls connects the understanding of acceptable adult behavior with the defenseless manor of children. This theme, set in an abandoned living space, is where the viewers are encouraged to search under furniture for hints of the tenant’s character, read privately composed poetry, and look through drawers full of lifeless objects to piece together a stranger’s personality. In this lonely apartment there is a locked room with sound leaking out of it, and a note pinned to the door hinting at where the key is hidden. Behind the door is where the tenant has been hiding away his reality – scenes of brutality, sexual misconduct, relationships with nature, and perversion.

GIFTED

at Deluge Contemporary Art
636 Yates Street Victoria BC

November 21 to December 19, 2008
Opening: Friday, November 21, 7pm

featuring artwork from:
Marlaina Buch. Tamsin Clark.
Megan Dickie. Sandra Doore.
Chris Gillespie. Brian Grison.
Cody Coyote Haight. Lisa Hebden.
Ted Hiebert. Danielle Hogan.
Karina Kalvaitis. Daniel Laskarin.
May-ling Martinez. J McLaughlin.
Heather Passmore. Ingrid Mary Percy.
Steve Rayner. Brooke Semple
Shawn Shepherd. Caleb Speller.
VenaCava.The Woodpile Collective.

At a time of the year when clichés invoking goodwill and cheer fly about like so many snowflakes, Gifted is a group exhibition which asks participating artists to propose a new, less cynical, seasonal language while re-examining their personal and highly idiosyncratic ideas of illumination, transcendence and desire.

SHOWING in PORTLAND OREGON

Fusible link

PIP Gallery
y625 NW Everett #110, Portland
October 2nd-19th, 2008
Curator Contact:
marlene@dactylograph@gmail.com

This exhibition extends the dynamic
works of independent established and
emerging artists from one pole in the
Pacific North West to another:
Victoria, B.C. To Portland, OR.
Each piece becomes part of a
wealthy, circuitous installation.

Featured artists include:

Wendy Welch
Rhonda Usipiuk
Caleb Speller
Gedidiah McCaughey
John Luna
Tyler Hodgins
Megan Dickie
Marlaina Buch
Marlene Bouchard

OVER MY DEAD BODY

ARTIST TALK MAY 23 7:30pm
ART GALLERY OF GREATER VICTORIA

May 23, 2008 to July 23, 2008

Caleb Speller’s project Over My Dead Body examines the play between art and life, explored so thoroughly by Andy Warhol during his illustrious career. On Tuesdays and Thursdays in June, Speller will be artist-in-residence, building on his project in a cumulative fashion. Beginning with photographs that scrutinize “the surroundings in which death can take place during our daily routine,” Speller will create texts, drawing and collage to negotiate his environment and art practice, creating inevitable connections with Warhol’s “art as life” proposition.

GROUP SHOW at LITTLE MOUNTAIN STUDIO'S in VANCOUVER

DRAWING EXPO'08 AT LITTLE MOUNTAIN STUDIOS
Friday April 11th where you are sure to enjoy lovely art and good people.

GROUP SHOW AT SLIDE ROOM!

CASSETTE
April 25 - May 12

Curatorial project by Marlene Bouchard based on the idea that all lines are indicators of movement (such as the spinning line in a cassette tape). All artists will present records of their unique interpretations of what line means to them in their practice as well as participants in Victoria's urban system.
Installation in process (open for viewing) April 25-May 2.
Opening reception: Friday, May 2 @ 7:30 pm

Caleb Speller
Gedidiah McCaughey
Jeff Morton
Lyle Shultz
Marlaina Buch
Rhonda Usipiuk
Susu Robin
Tyler Hodgins

SOLO SHOW AT FIFTY FIFTY MARCH 21 - 30 OPENING PARTY - MARCH 21st 7pm - 9pm

Excerpt from Local Artist A Racoon by: Lynda Pupo

Speller’s show shares the same name as his grandmother. “It’s not a tribute,” he said. “Her hands spent an entire life creating.” Just as his grandmother knit using thread and yarn, Speller will be using these mediums in his show. “I’m exploring the needles and yarn and seeing what happens when my hands touch them,” Speller said.

for the whole article see MARLET link at the top of the page.

May Gill, (1914 - 2005) tought me how to braid. When i was a kid, I would sneak down into her bedroom early in the morning to make a braclet. She would help me choose three different colours from her thread box, and show me how to connect them. She spent her time knitting sweaters for pretty much the entire extended family and for kids in bad living conditions in Africa. Thread, wool and connecting lines were what her hands spent most of her life creating. This art show is dedicated to the arthritic hands of my Grammy, May Gill. This show is one multicoloured connected line.