ROPSON CHOPS HIS FACE OFF

GETTING BEYOND HIS OBSESSION WITH WOODPILES, MONTREAL ARTIST, JERRY ROPSON SPLITS WOOD, DRAWS PICTURES AND TELLS TALES, NOT UNLIKE AN OLDER UNCLE MIGHT DO.
Montreal, Quebec, Saturday, August 26, 2006 I presented the performance-based work: Woodhouse Sketches, on the rooftop of the William Street Studios. Starting at 12pm and continued well into the evening; this piece would be multidimensional in nature, incorporating: storytelling, drawing and the repetitive act of splitting wood. Simply described; pieces of firewood were split into smaller pieces or “splits”, to reveal/relay images and stories. The performance mimicked the method of layering that I utilize in my drawings.

woodhouse sketches (the drawings)

hurdles (seal hunt), mixed-media drawing, 2006

fairytale beginning, mixed-media drawing, 2006

everything i was ever afraid of, mixed-media drawing, 2006

This is a selection of some work that was created in the spring of 2006. It deals directly with displacement. I was interested in how rural identity is transformed and re-shaped within transient, and particularly, urban settings. I produced a series of drawings and small objects. The images are informed by the commonplace, incorporating personal references; delving into oral tradition and rural folklore, working to illustrate portions of a new eclectic cultural identity.

This work was made possible through a Research and Creation Grant, from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Raised in a small community in rural Newfoundland, my relationship to this place continues to be a formidable force within my creative process. A strong sense of place, and the place itself, imparts an abundance of imagery, stories, inspiration and near exhausting reflection. The correlation between individual and place, and the push and pull between responsibility to tradition and obligation to experience, is a cohesive force within my creative process: where you are vs. where you’re from. This is a defining factor in my art making.

The work is informed by the commonplace. I am giving thought and vision to the everyday environment we intuitively process. With my work I hope to transcribe and share with the viewer the sense of pleasure and disdain I encounter when applying the whimsical and the sublime, to the mundane. Rural ideologies serve as models of observation, engagement and interaction, and are strongly implemented within my discipline. Works integrate images of, childhood play, fear, the romantic, violence, masculine stereotypes, small town tendencies, and ‘Newfoundlandia’. These are investigated within the art and its application, often with an underlying hint of humour. In presenting my work, I try not to rely on overt storytelling, but rather visually establish several corresponding sub-narratives. The abundance of information is meant not only to structure loose narratives, but in the end, to deconstruct, and invert with an overload of information. Something I have come to refer as atavistic narrative.

Although my artistic endeavours are regularly shifting to accommodate a changing environment, I am particularly focused on drawing. I draw every day and this is the most essential part of my art practice. My work is directly focused around drawing based installation. I use drawing and narrative to construct and document this attachment to the commonplace. I make an assortment of artist multiples, drawings, prints, zines, constructed objects, performances and I am continually collecting and creating images, layering within and around the framework of narrative. I often integrate work directly into public settings, and enjoy the challenge of collaborative projects.