Our first live performance for this year’s Schmoozy is by Roses performed with matchbooks and accompanying soundscape (recorded by Holland G.)
Artist Statement:
I was told that close cover strike gently or some variation of these words, was at one time or another the most reprinted text in the world. The sentiment of these practical, ubiquitous, and oddly poetic words ripple beyond simple instructions. Don’t press too hard, don’t smother or extinguish the flame. Protect it, and as you do so, move gently through the world.
The act of collecting is a form of organization and of making sense of the world. The contents gathered together establish a placement in time, they categorize a throughline of the efforts of many people, their interests and production, creating things persistently enough to be recognized and sewn into a collection. But all the same, each object possesses its own agency and life: each object has something to say and reveal in its own time. As a curator, which all of us are in one way or another, one listens for the gentle sentiment, the hushed whisper each piece of a collection has to impart. For me, this is represented in a collection of prose I've written for each matchbook I've found.
The following excerpts are pieces of the accompanying soundscape to my performance, close cover strike gently.
I want to become a self healing mat the kind you stick into and the wound patches itself up
The best part about heartbreak is that it has already happened
Queer people save my life over and over again
About the Artist:
Based in amiskwaciwâskahikan ‘Edmonton’ on Treaty 6 territory, Roses is an artist and also a noun. Through a plural perspective, they are handling concepts of intergenerational queer relationships and exchanges, while respectfully looking to a past and present of queer rurality, specifically in the prairies. As a third-generation farmer, Roses’ lived experience of agricultural practices and community informs her approach to performance and art-making. They hold a BFA from the University of Alberta and have presented work with Shooting Gallery: Performance Series #9 (Vancouver, BC) and were a featured artist for the Mile Zero Dance: Visual Artist Series (Edmonton, AB). As well as, an EAC grant recipient for the Edmonton Presentation Fund for COVID Recovery. In 2021 Roses’ was mentored by Cindy Baker as a part of the MAG Exchange Mentor Program hosted by the Mitchell Art Gallery, (Edmonton, AB). Outside of their studio practice, they are passionate about DIY fashion and garment construction, erotica, and ‘vintage’ ephemera of any kind.