THE WASTE LAND
Andrea Kastner
The Cube
January 17 to March 22, 2014
Curated by Craig Willms, Kamloops Art Gallery
Andrea Kastner is a Kamloops-based artist. Her practice explores the presence of the unseen, both in her physical surroundings and in the human psyche. Previous bodies of work have included archeological excavations of household refuse and paintings that reveal the excess and sacred nature of rejected objects found in basements, alleyways and neglected spaces. In 2012, Kastner was selected as a finalist for the RBC Painting Competition for her painting Demolition.
The title of this exhibition comes from T.S. Eliot’s poem of the same name, wherein he declares, “These fragments I have shored against my ruins.” In this new body of work, Kastner investigates ruins and fragments that make up the urban landscape of Kamloops. She looks at the changing state of the city she resides in and relates that state to people’s capacity for amassing possessions and building upon them while continually culling or passing things along. The artist researched the archives of the Kamloops Museum and explored the city’s back alleys and hidden pockets located behind familiar building façades. Through paintings based on collaged compositions, Kastner reveals layers of civic history and exposes a behind-the-scene view of the spaces that she depicts. Kastner describes her paintings as “in a state of being overwhelmed by their own possessions.“
Installation view of Andrea Kastner:
The Waste Land
Photo: Kamloops Art Gallery
