<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Hello everyone,</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In the summer of 2018
I participated in an artist residency at Hospitalfield in Arbroath, Scotland. The
house I stayed in was beautiful – the furniture, the rugs, the décor was all
grounded in the period. When I first arrived,
I was given permission to walk around the house. There were rooms,
stairwells, turrets, and many, many objects. One room housed small wooden boxes
with drawers that contained rock samples that the owners of the house collected
on their walks. I was drawn to these rocks, but didn’t think anything of it at the moment because it isn't rare for me to be pulled to objects in this way. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">One of the parameters
of this residency is that the work created while there isn’t site specific; this allows all residents who participate to create work that is unique and not visually connected to the house. After a couple of days I was experiencing a sense of discomfort despite the wonderful
company, food, and environment. I
knew that there was substance to this feeling of discomfort that could be
explored further by spending focused time with the objects that I was drawn to.
After being given permission by the person who ran the residency and by the
person who managed the archives, I engaged in a process of sharing space with
the objects to gather more information.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Over the period of a
few days, I photographed my handling of these objects. It was an intense,
immersive experience. The feelings and images that came to me during this experience
was documented in written form as an artist book. It was during this process that I came to the
conclusion that the feeling of discomfort came from an understanding that someone
like me, a racialized person, was never intended to have such intimate
interactions with this space and with the objects that lived there. This came
to me as a deeply felt intuitive account of this energy. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These photographs were included in my exhibition at Gallery TPW, <i style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">It is here now that I have gathered and measured yes.</i><i style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> </i><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">(2019)</span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">. The other works in this exhibition consist of my attempts to capture the aura of objects, my re-creation of the photograph that documents the proposed ways that Eusapia Paladino performed her table tipping, as well as a video work that documents a gesture that produces a visual that often came to mind when working through this body of work (a gesture that made sense after engaging in a wonderful discussion with Jennifer Fischer!). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">You can view exhibition images here: </span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><a href="http://www.erikadefreitas.com/it-is-now-here-that-i-have-measured-and-gathered-yes-solo-2019.html">http://www.erikadefreitas.com/it-is-now-here-that-i-have-measured-and-gathered-yes-solo-2019.html</a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">You can view the discussion between Jennifer and I here: <a href="http://www.erikadefreitas.com/uploads/6/0/3/0/6030568/gallery_tpw_erikadefreitas_2019.pdf" style="">http://www.erikadefreitas.com/uploads/6/0/3/0/6030568/gallery_tpw_erikadefreitas_2019.pdf</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><br></p><div><div dir="ltr" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><a href="http://www.erikadefreitas.com/" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">www.erikadefreitas.com</font></a><br></div><div><br></div><div><font color="#000000">To subscribe to my studio newsletter, please click</font> <font color="#0b5394"><font color="#0b5394"><a href="http://eepurl.com/bQlryn" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family:Arial"> </span></font><br></font></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial"><font color="#0b5394"><br></font></span></div><div><font color="#000000">Art Gallery at Evergreen: </font><font color="#0000ff"><a href="https://evergreenculturalcentre.ca/exhibit/" target="_blank">Erika DeFreitas: close magic</a></font><span style="font-family:Arial"><font color="#0b5394"><br></font></span></div><div>CBC On the Coast Interview: <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-46/clip/15824634" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">Reflecting on Family and Loss Through Art</font></a></div><div><font><font color="#000000">Online Artist Project: </font><font color="#0000ff"><a href="https://www.tofeelclose.com/" target="_blank">Something else is happening and we are reservoirs (np)</a></font></font></div><div><div><font color="#000000">MacLaren Art Centre:</font><font><font color="#0b5394"> </font><a href="https://maclarenart.com/project/everything-she-inspires-remains-belongs-to-light/" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">Erika DeFreitas: everything she inspires remains, belongs to light</font></a></font></div><div><font color="#000000">Museum London:</font><font color="#0b5394"> </font><a href="http://museumlondon.ca/exhibitions/resolution-a-century-of-photographic-art" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">RESOLUTION: A Century of Photographic Art</font></a><br></div></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>