Amalie Atkins is a Prairie girl at heart.
After graduating from the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, Atkins and her husband — both Manitoba natives — moved to Saskatchewan.
Their stint was only supposed to last 10 months but the crisp air kept the couple planted for the next 15 years.
Saskatoon has fed them creatively, too, with its rich arts community.
And the province has been generous as well with its funding: the Saskatchewan Arts Board is the oldest of its kind in the country and it has the Saskatchewan Film Pool, which granted Atkins money for her first film.
Saturday, at the Art Gallery at Evergreen in Coquitlam, Atkins will show dreamlike landscapes of her adopted home in her latest film/photo installation titled where the hour floats.
It will be the first time Atkins will have exhibited in Metro Vancouver.
This week, The Tri-City News caught up with Atkins as she travelled to B.C.:
Where has the display been seen before?
This is the first time this exhibition has shown anywhere but I have been working on different aspects of the work for a long time. The work consists of series of films, photographs and installations.
What is a cinematic fable?
Somebody else came up with this term but I think they meant the films consider aspects of traditional cinema such as composition but are not a straightforward narrative. I don’t necessarily agree with the term fable because fables generally have a clear lesson.
Where did you get the idea for this display?
The work is always building and growing. Every film or photograph relates to the others in some way and every time the work shows, it may tell a slightly different version of a story depending on what is included. In this case, [the Evergreen’s] Katherine Dennis curated the selections.
Why only female roles?
The story has many layers. This project looks at matriarchy and a female perspective. Some of the ideas emerged from relationships with the women in my family. My sister, mother, aunts and grandmother influenced the actions, costumes and story.
How do you expect the reaction in Metro Vancouver to compare with a Prairie audience?
There are many people with a Prairie connection living in Metro Vancouver and they may feel a familiarity with the characters and landscape. For those not connected to the Prairies, perhaps seeing open rural unpopulated spaces will be a welcome sight.
The public can meet Amalie Atkins for a tour of her solo show in the Art Gallery at Evergreen (1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam) at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 2. The opening reception is from 3 to 5 p.m. Call 604-927-6555 or visit evergreenculturalcentre.ca.
