The North project comes from an invitation from an independent publishing company based in Germany called deer press. Led by the founder of the press, Manu Buchting, this is the fifth project of this format. For each project, Buchting invites artists from across Europe and Canada to contribute a book to a box set with the stipulation of a overarching theme. The theme I have been invited to work with is North. For this project, I have been asked to make an edition of six books. After they are set to deer press, each book will go into a set with the books of the four other invited artists. After the box sets are compiled, one will be sent to each of the contributing artists, as well as one being retained by deer press. These projects have been framed as being ‘traveling exhibitions’ because of there redistribution across Canada and Europe.

 

When asked to do this project, I began thinking of the mythology surrounding the idea of the North. The imagery associated with northern places is often romanticized and far from what I experience in a northern city. I decided to focus on what is actually in my surroundings, depicting my daily experiences. I  decided to be extremely literal with the theme of the North, having the images be drawings made with the stipulation that I must be facing North. The choice to draw in blind contour forces me to spend unbroken time staring north rather than worrying about accuracy of the end product. The images I produce are obscured from my reality, so in a way, I am still romanticizing my northern experience, having these abstract line drawings be depictions of highways, pubs and civic buildings.