Impossible Expectations: The Miller and the Baker
Hamilton Artist Inc. September 8 – October 27, 2018
Exhibition Essay by Debbie Ebanks Schlums
Coming to understand who you are in relation to what you do is a highly social realization, but one we often sort through in our own minds, alone.
The minotaur is a mythological character cursed to act out. His reality is a lonely one. A monstrous conception from lust, the half-man half-beast meets the daring at the center of a labyrinth on Minos. After the first few adventurers never returned, his reputation preceded him, but how do you think he fueled his purpose between unwelcome guests?
The Miller and the Baker offers a contemplative space for gallery visitors to self-isolate with thoughts of labour. Wearing the minotaur bust, a visitor is greeted with a shiny gold pretzel and an internal monologue broadcasting the minotaur’s thoughts. The sculpture is activated pushing the mill’s yolk and walking around in a blind and endless circle. This minotaur crushing and grinding is reserved, not for bones, but for grain, and he does not know what flour is for. What does a baker do and why must the grain be milled?
This work was very proudly exhibited during Supercrawl 2018 at Hamilton Artists Inc in Hamilton, Ontario. We were part of a group show called Impossible Expectations with Angie Quick’s “fleshy landfill” paintings and audio work It’s worth repeating (so I did) by Tara Lynn MacDougall. Lisa Lipton makes another appearance in the psychic space as she was in the main gallery during this exhibition. This was the second iteration of The Miller and the Baker, the first being Jacob’s residency with FOFA Gallery at Concordia in Montreal during the 2017 Artist At Work summer residency, funded by Young Canada Works.
We would like to thank Ontario Arts Council for their support of this project
