Art NOW series featuring alumna Miya Turnbull (BFA - Art '00) & Shion Skye Carter
Noon | Oct. 28
University Recital Hall
Free admission, all are welcome to attend
Visual artist and mask maker Miya Turnbull (Halifax, NS) returns to Alberta, where she has roots and first began making masks over 30 years ago, to share how her practice of lifelike self-portrait masks has evolved since. Dance artist Shion Skye Carter (Vancouver, BC) will then introduce her own practice, and together they will talk about their collaboration and their performance “Omote” (面), coming to Casa Oct. 29+30.
Miya Turnbull is a multi-disciplinary visual artist based in Halifax, N.S. She attended the University of Lethbridge between 1995-1999, graduating with a BFA in Studio Arts. Rooted in mask-making, her practice spans sculpture, photography, video and performance. She is best known for her ongoing series of life-like Photo-Masks; self-portraits that she alters, distorts and reconfigures to explore themes of identity, persona and transformation.
Her work has been exhibited in Canada, the US, Europe and Asia. Highlights include shows at the Beaverbrook Gallery (NB), Esker Foundation (AB), JCCC Gallery (ON), Bonavista Biennale (NL), Nelson Museum Archives and Gallery (BC), The Beaney (UK), Kishka Gallery (US), MaximiliansForum (Germany), SEEWELL International Art Centre (China) and currently has work up at Pratt Manhattan Gallery (NY).
She is currently on tour with Vancouver-based dance-artist, Shion Skye Carter, to perform their co-creation "Omote (⾯)" in Calgary, Lethbridge and Edmonton.
Shion Skye Carter is a dance artist from Gifu, Japan, based in Vancouver, Canada on the unceded, traditional lands of the Coast Salish peoples. Shion’s work considers knowledge and history of the past to propel us forward into the future, peeling apart layers of identity in the process. Through a choreographic practice embodying calligraphy and a distinct movement language of sensitive intensity, their projects take form as abstracted storytelling and archive: contemplations on memory as heirloom, dance as respite, and performance as imperfect artifact. Shion’s projects have been performed across Canada, Berlin, and Paris, and their choreography has been recognized internationally through the Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award (2021), the Chrystal Dance Prize (2023), and most recently, their solo "Cobalt" was recently shortlisted for the 2027 Bloom International Dance Prize by Sadler’s Wells (London, UK).
Be sure to check out Miya Turnbull's and Shion Skye Carter's additional events in Lethbridge while they are here.
Origami and Movement Workshop
Oct. 28 | 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Bunka Centre, Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden (835 Mayor Magrath Dr. S.)
Register here
Participants fold Miya Turnbull's self-portrait origami, a playful printed sheet of her face, into traditional designs such as the jumping frog, butterfly, paku paku, and cube. Shion Skye Carter then leads an improvised movement practice inspired by the paper forms: folding and unfolding the body and connecting with one another. Rooted in both artists' Japanese Canadian heritage, the workshop approaches identity as something formed through gesture, pressure, and process. No origami or dance experience is needed, and all ages are welcome (young children must be accompanied by an adult). Participants keep their origami creations. By donation; registration required, limited space.
"Omote" (面) Performance
Oct. 29 & 30 | 7 to 8:30 p.m. nightly
Casa Community Room (230 - 8 St. S.)
Running time: 50 minutes
Tickets: $20 general admission; $10 students/underwaged (plus Eventbrite fees and GST)
Attendees are invited to stay after the show for a closer look at the masks.
Buy tickets
More details can be found on Casa's website.
Contact:
finearts | finearts@uleth.ca | ulethbridge.ca/fine-arts/event-season