An exhibition of recent works by interdisciplinary artist and ECU faculty member Randy Lee Cutler opens April 24 at Wil Aballe Art Projects (WAAP) as part of the 2021 Capture Photography Festival Selected Exhibitions Program.

The collage works in the show, titled On the Other Hand, first began as a response to the pandemic, during the early days of lockdown in 2020.

“As thoughts of hand washing, fear of touching surfaces and a general lack of physical intimacy informed daily life, Cutler found herself constructing a visual syntax that embraced ciphers, sign language and writing across diverse cultures,” the exhibition text reads. “Working with gifted and thrifted National Geographic magazines, she embraced the virus by channelling its RNA code to cast spells through hieroglyphic forms. By bringing disparate elements together into new configurations, an emergent lexicon is cast of human gestures and cultural artifacts.”

Some of the early works in the series of more than 70 collages showed last fall across Vancouver as part of the city’s Platforms 2020: Public Works project. At that time, Randy explained how the artworks tie in to what she proposed as a broader objective of her work as an artist at a unique historical moment.

“It's about giving the viewer a moment to slow down and a space to navigate these attempts at communication, given the pandemic; because we're too distanced from each other right now,” she said. “Our skill as artists is to harness these ideas, images, feelings and sensations, and then turn them into something that communicates — and I don't mean in a rational way, but through a deeper sense of poetic connection.”

A selection of work shown at the Biennale of Sydney NIRIN 2020 will also be available for viewing.

On the Other Hand will show at WAAP through May 29, 2021. You can book your COVID-safe appointment to see the work in person now, via calendly.