Labyrinth of the Eternal Archetype
Shyra De Souza
October 01 to November 27 2011
Local artist Shyra De Souza’s +15 installation will combine a large number of found decorative elements with ornate classical form into a symmetrical structure reminiscent of a baroque altarpiece.
"Old canons collapse and continually fold into themselves like a fractal that repeatedly feeds the remainder back into the equation, with their forms repeatedly reinterpreted; context has become content. Objects of status often rely on forms related to a system of classical rationality, but leave us without personal meaning. Mysticism and pseudo-science fills the space where knowledge ends and the personal begins, creating a space that is both intimate and impersonal. Exploring the symbolic and emotional connections between people and objects, I wish to present an open-ended narrative where sensual and rational experience intersects. This work embodies the utopic melancholy induced by the continual disconnection between form and meaning." - Shyra De Souza, 2011
Bio
Shyra De Souza is an interdisciplinary artist based in Calgary. She attended the Sculpture department at the Alberta College of Art & Design where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts with distinction in 2006. As well as maintaining an artistic studio practice she holds the position of President at the Untitled Art Society in Calgary and is a founding member of the Media and Visual Arts Housing Association of Calgary. She was awarded the 2009/2010 Quickdraw Animation Society Production Scholarship (Calgary) during which she developed an experimental animated film, and has exhibited her work in Canada and the United States.