Sarah Ciurysek is a Canadian artist working mainly in photography, video, and installation to examine our relationship to the ground. The artwork typically consists of large-scale colour photographs of soil, grass, fields, and floors; these works reference graves, death, life, nourishment, history, archeology, and rural sensibilities and concerns.
Sarah was raised in northern Alberta and continues to make much of her work there. She trained at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (BFA 2003), Parsons The New School for Design, and Concordia University (MFA 2007). Her work has been exhibited across Canada and in the US, in the UK and Austria, and in South Africa. She has participated in national and international residencies and has been the recipient of Canada Council, Manitoba Arts Council, and Alberta Foundation for the Arts grants. She is an Assistant Professor at the School of Art, University of Manitoba.
Sarah Ciurysek is a Canadian artist working mainly in photography, video, and installation to examine our relationship to the ground. The artwork typically consists of large-scale colour photographs of soil, grass, fields, and floors; these works reference graves, death, life, nourishment, history, archeology, and rural sensibilities and concerns.
Sarah was raised in northern Alberta and continues to make much of her work there. She trained at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (BFA 2003), Parsons The New School for Design, and Concordia University (MFA 2007). Her work has been exhibited across Canada and in the US, in the UK and Austria, and in South Africa. She has participated in national and international residencies and has been the recipient of Canada Council, Manitoba Arts Council, and Alberta Foundation for the Arts grants. She is an Assistant Professor at the School of Art, University of Manitoba.
Sarah Ciurysek is a Canadian artist working mainly in photography, video, and installation to examine our relationship to the ground. The artwork typically consists of large-scale colour photographs of soil, grass, fields, and floors; these works reference graves, death, life, nourishment, history, archeology, and rural sensibilities and concerns.
Sarah was raised in northern Alberta and continues to make much of her work there. She trained at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (BFA 2003), Parsons The New School for Design, and Concordia University (MFA 2007). Her work has been exhibited across Canada and in the US, in the UK and Austria, and in South Africa. She has participated in national and international residencies and has been the recipient of Canada Council, Manitoba Arts Council, and Alberta Foundation for the Arts grants. She is an Assistant Professor at the School of Art, University of Manitoba.
Sarah Ciurysek is a Canadian artist working mainly in photography, video, and installation to examine our relationship to the ground. The artwork typically consists of large-scale colour photographs of soil, grass, fields, and floors; these works reference graves, death, life, nourishment, history, archeology, and rural sensibilities and concerns.
Sarah was raised in northern Alberta and continues to make much of her work there. She trained at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (BFA 2003), Parsons The New School for Design, and Concordia University (MFA 2007). Her work has been exhibited across Canada and in the US, in the UK and Austria, and in South Africa. She has participated in national and international residencies and has been the recipient of Canada Council, Manitoba Arts Council, and Alberta Foundation for the Arts grants. She is an Assistant Professor at the School of Art, University of Manitoba.
Sarah Ciurysek is a Canadian artist working mainly in photography, video, and installation to examine our relationship to the ground. The artwork typically consists of large-scale colour photographs of soil, grass, fields, and floors; these works reference graves, death, life, nourishment, history, archeology, and rural sensibilities and concerns.
Sarah was raised in northern Alberta and continues to make much of her work there. She trained at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (BFA 2003), Parsons The New School for Design, and Concordia University (MFA 2007). Her work has been exhibited across Canada and in the US, in the UK and Austria, and in South Africa. She has participated in national and international residencies and has been the recipient of Canada Council, Manitoba Arts Council, and Alberta Foundation for the Arts grants. She is an Assistant Professor at the School of Art, University of Manitoba.
Fell
Fell
Silver gelatin photographs
40”x 50”
2016
Fell depicts the dark root balls at the base of fallen trees. The root balls resemble caves or black holes which, because they are almost body-sized, create a strong pull for the viewer, while remaining quite threatening. Their reference to voids connects the images to time and to death, conceptually linking them to the history and theory of photography.
Fell was shot on large-format b/w film in locations across Western Canada. The images were printed by hand through a process that, because of the final photos’ size (40”x50”), was physically demanding and time-consuming, and which required me to travel to the Banff Centre to use their rare mural darkroom facilities.
It is conceptually significant that the traditional photographic methods used to make Fell are dying. Disappearance is embedded in these images, through the process of their making, and through their subject matter.
I gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Winnipeg Arts Council with funding from the city of Winnipeg, and the University of Manitoba Creative Works program.