endings + beginnings

Shima Aghaaminiha, Shamim Aghaaminiha, Larissa Kitchemonia, Raegan Moynes, Alyssa Scott, Amy Snider, and Brenda Watt
April 10 – 24, 2021

Artist Talk: Wednesday, April 14, 7pm
Hosted over zoom. Please register in advance to attend.
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Read the EXHIBITION TEXT (PDF)

the Gallery is currently closed to the public. Please check out our Instagram profile for a series of live conversations with the artists
@neutralgroundarc

ENDINGS + BEGINNINGS is an exhibition showcasing the works of Shima Aghaaminiha, Shamim Aghaaminiha, Larissa Kitchemonia, Raegan Moynes, Alyssa Scott, Amy Snider and Brenda Watt, a group of emerging artists and artists in the beginning of their careers as candidates in the MFA program at the University of Regina.

Our lives are filled with beginnings and endings that result from changes of all sorts. In our recent time, the Covid19 pandemic has imposed another ending and a beginning on us. Like with all defining events, our lives now have a line drawn through them: pre-Covid/post-Covid. What makes this situation exceptional is that these new definitions apply to every person’s experience. Other global changes, political, technological, and environmental, are also looming or already happening at what feels like a continuously increasing pace. These constant changes to our lives and our understanding of the world lead us to the question of where one contemporary moment ends and another begins. The works in endings + beginnings are each reflections on this question.

SHAMIM AGHAAMINIHA is a ceramic artist who is interested in creating conceptual installations. She holds Bachelor in Handicrafts from Tehran University of Art and currently is studying for a Master of Fine Art in Visual Art at the University of Regina.
She was born and raised in Tehran, Iran sixteen years after the “Islamic Revolution”. Having been raised in a strict religious society and making art under censorship influence her art practices. Through her art, she wants to be a voice of oppressed Iranians and reveal the truth behind media lie about Iran’s dictatorial Regime.

SHIMA AGHAAMINIHA is a ceramic artist whose work extends to performance and installation. She earned her BFA degree in handicraft from Tehran University of Art. Aghaaminiha was born and raised in Iran, and its patriarchal religious system informs her work. Human rights issues such as freedom of speech and beliefs and feminism are the main subjects of her artworks.

LARISSA KITCHEMONIA is an Anishnaabe-Saulteaux woman from The Key First Nation, currently living in Regina, Saskatchewan. In her painting and beadwork practices she creates using the topics of nature, womanhood and motherhood embedded with traditional First Nation ideology and practices. The focus of her work is rooted in reclaiming traditional identities and exploring Anishnaabe – Saulteaux culture and traditions. She has completed a Bachelors Degree in Indigenous Fine Arts from the First Nations University of Canada and she is a Masters of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies candidate at the University of Regina.

RAEGAN MOYNES is a multidisciplinary artist and an MFA student at the University of Regina. She holds a Bachelor of Design from Ryerson University and a Post-Baccalaureate from the U of R. She has lived in Toronto, Vancouver and Melbourne, Australia and is currently living and working in Regina, Saskatchewan. Her past work has examined issues of the body, gender, identity and sexuality through the exploration of real and imaged histories embedded in discarded garments. Her interest in clothing as a primary material is informed by her background in fashion design and costuming. In response to her experiences, her practice seeks to challenge the function of clothing to construct external identities by using them as a vehicle to deconstruct her own.

ALYSSA SCOTT is a visual artist, working in print, installation, painting, collage, found materials, photography and creative writing. Through her work, she contemplates our relationship to land, life matter and the home. Alyssa is based in Kingston, Ontario and Regina, Saskatchewan. She received a Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) with Distinction from Queen’s University in 2019 and a Bachelor of Education at Queen’s University in 2020. She is currently a candidate in the Master of Fine Arts program at the University of Regina.

AMY SNIDER has a post-baccalaureate in visual arts from the University of Regina and is currently one of their MFA candidates. She uses a variety of media, predominantly clay and ceramic, to create conceptual works that reflect on the climate crisis. Climate change is an issue that she believes requires us to shift how we think about our own as well as our collective existence on this planet. She is involved in environmental activism, participating in several environmental organizations and taking part in political advocacy. Her artwork is an extension of her commitment to this cause.

BRENDA WATT is a visual artist who lives and works in Regina, Saskatchewan. She has a Bachelor of Education and a Post-Baccalaureate in visual arts from the University of Regina. Upon completing a career in education, teaching art and digital technologies to high school students, she has returned to the University of Regina and is working on her MFA.
Brenda’s current work unites contemporary themes with historical techniques and media.

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