Lucy Skaer Artist Talk

For me that idea of time relates to sculpture because sculpture is always primarily a first-hand experience, and through sculpture you can drag references that are usually third, fourth, fifth hand and put them back into first-hand experience, although in a different way.
— Lucy Skaer, “A Brief History of Time,” The Skinny

We are pleased to present an artist’s talk by Lucy Skaer, who joins the Emily Carr community as the Fall 2015 Audain Distinguished Artist-in-Residence.

Primarily working with sculpture and drawing, Skaer’s practice encompasses a wide variety of materials and methods. Engaging with both traditional and contemporary manufacturing processes, her sculptures evoke the sense of a half-remembered history still present in the world around us. Deeply engaged with the materiality and providence of objects, Skaer’s work hovers between recognizable forms and abstracted symbols, drawing the viewer into unraveling narrative associations.

Lucy Skaer studied at the Glasgow School of Art, graduating in 1997. Her work has been exhibited widely, with shows at the Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh; Kunsthalle Basel; and Centre Pompidou, Paris. She represented Scotland at the 52nd  Venice Biennale in 2007 and was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2009. Skaer produces film and photography alongside artist Rosalind Nashashibi under the name Nashashibi/Skaer and is part of the collective Henry VIII’s Wives.

The Audain Distinguished Artist in Residence program has been hosted by Libby Leshgold Gallery and Emily Carr University since 2013. The program brings internationally renowned artists to Vancouver to support engagement with local communities and the creation of new works. Operating at the interstices of the teaching and learning environment, the gallery and the studio, the residency encourages experimentation, collaboration, and meaningful international exchange.