Programming

The installation Significant/Insignificant, composed of autobiographical notes, photographs, and wallpaper, is derived from this way of transcribing my lived experience. What is significant to me is not necessarily significant to the viewer, and vice versa... In this context, the camouflage I employ becomes a metaphor for tolerance. Essentially, the installation is about the coexistence of two points of view. By bringing together two disparate entities, I embrace contradiction.

—Vera Greenwood

At first glance, my work creates a strong visual impression, yet it also contains a multitude of details—so small or so carefully camouflaged that only those who take the time to look closely become aware of their existence. I see this as a metaphor for fairy tales, which likewise require time and attention.

More recently, my work has drawn on elements of my everyday life, particularly my habit of keeping a journal.

I write in order to organize my thoughts. Working in a manner akin to collage, I arrange and rearrange my notes into categories, creating an illusion of order. Although I have kept a journal for thirteen years, it is only recently that I have come to recognize one of its greatest benefits: catharsis. Writing allows me to distance myself from my lived experience, producing a sense of release. In this way, the disciplined practice of writing has become a method through which I can transcend my life experience in order to discern its underlying structure. I write less to be understood than to understand myself.

The installation Significant/Insignificant, composed of autobiographical notes, photographs, and wallpaper, is derived from this way of transcribing my lived experience. Autobiography, as a means of preserving the self, fascinates me. When I record my memories, I seek to present a particular perspective. For this reason, I ask the viewer to follow me to the end in order to gain an understanding of my motivations.

In this installation, I explore the notions of subjectivity and of private and public space. What is significant to me is not necessarily significant to the viewer, and vice versa. This juxtaposition of the significant and the insignificant refers to binary ways of thinking, in which everything is black or white, one thing or the other. In this context, the camouflage I employ becomes a metaphor for tolerance. Essentially, the installation is about the coexistence of two points of view.

By bringing together two disparate entities, I embrace contradiction.

Born in Calgary in 1954, Ottawa-based artist Vera Greenwood lives and works in Hull, Quebec. A graduate of the Alberta College of Art at Concordia University, Greenwood’s training in printmaking has expanded to included mixed media installations.