PAPER, PURPOSE, PERSEVERANCE

My first solo exhibit at a Canadian public gallery opens tonight at Karsh-Masson Gallery, City Hall; Ottawa, Canada. The show is titled, Anatomy of Resilience, and it features my signature paper objects and surfaces. However this time, the language of my artworks’ materials, constructions, patterns, shapes and colours propose art and creation as a kind of hardiness toward hardship.

Andrew Ooi, Scarab, 2016 | 6 x 6 x 3 inches, 15 x 15 x 7 cm | Gampi, acrylic, ink

Recounting his own initial and ensuing impressions of the exhibition theme and artworks is Scotiabank-Giller and Rogers-Writers’-Trust-Fiction Prizes nominated-author, Cary Fagan. His writing, Rock, Paper, Scissors, appears in the exhibit’s accompanying catalogue and will be available for free at the gallery for the duration of the show. Eventually, the text will be made accessible through my website and on premises at my transitional representation in Canada, L.A. Pai Gallery, Ottawa.

L.A. Pai Gallery Exterior/Interior Views, 2017 | Images Source: www.instagram.com/lapaigallery

L.A. Pai Gallery, Interior Views, 2018 featuring Andrew Ooi Meta-Chroma artworks | Images: Courtesy of L.A. Pai Gallery

Which means, yes, you do have at least two galleries to visit if in the Nation’s Capital and have a window between beaver-tail noshing and ice-skating over the newly minted rink by Parliament Hill. If anything–all kidding aside–as an opportunity to introduce yourself to the remarkable people responsible for facilitating the exhibition’s launch and my artistic development. They, along with others, are what help maintain resilience, which I hope, I too, offer in return.

Anatomy of Resilience exhibits at Karsh-Masson Gallery from February 8, 2018 to April 18, 2018. Vernissage: Thursday, February 8, 2018, 5:30-7:30pm. All are welcome.

Karsh-Masson Gallery is located at 110 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa City Hall. The gallery is free to the public, and open daily–including holidays–from 9 am to 8 pm, and is accessible by wheelchair.

Andrew Ooi would like to acknowledge the support of the City of Ottawa and the Ontario Arts Council–an agency of the Government of Ontario.