Ilze Bebris' sculptures are as aesthetically pleasing as they are refreshingly destabilizing.  Her work is an impressive play of colors and textures that attracts the eye without overwhelming the viewer.  Indeed, even if her sculptures are an assemblage of different objects of different sizes and colors, her work is so carefully placed and organized that the viewer is left with a refreshing sense of order.  Undeniably, 'chaos' is not a part of what we experience; yet we have the distinct impression that chaos was part of the artistic process leading to the finished sculpture.  When working on a project, Ilze takes different objects of our everyday life and dashes them together.  Her art is then a process of reorganization, contrast and juxtaposition until the finish product is strikingly commanding for its aesthetic.  Indeed, Ilze is interested in the visual qualities of the common object.  She brings together ready-mades that everyone knows and uses for their practicalities or versatilities.  However, as an artist, Ilze is interested in their aesthetic qualities, not only as independent artifacts, but also in their 'becoming' as intricate parts of an artistic project.  This is why her works are more sculptures than installations.  Moving from chaos and fractions, she reaches unity and beauty.  In her sculptures, all the colors and textures of the different ready-mades are brought to the front, explored and amplified by being contrasted to other everyday objects or materials.  At first glance, her sculptures appear to be amazingly simple, yet she explores the very core of what constitute an art object.  She makes us question the presence of Fine Art in our everyday life by centering our attention to the aesthetic qualities of an object and how its materiality and uniqueness is magnified and at the same time, merged to its environment.

Having painted for many years in a realistic style that is appealing to the art market, Todd Lambeth went back to do an MFA so he could challenge his art.  As part of his artistic exploration, Todd is now going back to what he sees as the foundation of painting: color and form.  When working on his canvases, Todd plays with the format itself, turning it upside-down or on its side, so the pigments may drip and move in different directions.  There is a sense of freedom and relented control on the part of the artist.  Yet, this freedom or independence of the medium is an illusion, since Todd carefully uses mixed colors to achieve his artistic vision.  The canvas itself, as a format, is also part of his exploration.  As mentioned earlier, while working on a canvas, Todd continually changes and moves it around.  Again, we have a suggestion of freedom, and yet the painting starts and ends on the edges of the canvas.  It is therefore confined and limited to it. Having painted realistic images for many years, Todd is able to render a convincing illusion of reality.  However his current paintings are abstractions.  Yet, by juxtaposing dark and light colors, Todd is able to play with the viewer.  He gives us hints of forms, and yet these shapes dissolve as soon as they are noticed.  We have allusions to illusions, not realistic representations.  The paintings themselves are finished, and yet the illusions are in constant process of formation.  When looking at his paintings, we can appreciate artistic exploration at its best.  He studies the limits, and at the same time basis, of what constitutes painting.   Therefore he is bound to the canvasses that he uses, as much as the mixed colors that he applies.  His work is a studied application of colors on a specific format.  His work does not develop from chaos; it is an illusion of artistic freedom as part of his artistic exploration.

Video art is in no way a new medium in the art world, nor is the question of cultural identity.  However, Yi Fan Wang is merging both to give us a subdued yet powerful artistic experience.  As a Chinese artist who came to Canada to explore different artistic mediums, video art being one of them, Yi Fan Wang is exploring artistic and cultural differences.  Wanting to subvert the world of the media industry, which often overwhelms the viewer with shocking news about other countries, including China, Yi Fan lessens the differences that he presents.  Our experience is therefore a calming one, the very opposite of what we get from watching the 6 o’clock news.  Indeed, for all of its social and cultural interest, the final product is surprisingly low-key.  On one end, Yi Fan brings together dichotomies of art and cultures and on the other, blurs the very differences that he is giving us.  In this installation, a very common Chinese historical artistic format (a scroll) is used as a screen for the projection of a video (in itself a modern medium) presenting a western Caucasian man who is depicted (reincarnated) in different emotions.  These emotions are basic human ones that anyone, from any part of the world, would be able to recognize and experience.  As part of this installation, the visitor also hears a monk chanting the Diamond Sutra.  This sutra is a relatively short one, teaching about non-abidance, which is at the core of Chan (Zen) Buddhism.  This particular Sutra is a favorite in Chan (Zen) Buddhist monasteries and many laypeople know by heart, if not the entire sutra, some of its passages.  Furthermore, in the West, Chan (Zen) Buddhism is one of the most recognized forms of Buddhism.  Visually, Yi Fan’s installation is a work with no rough edges, nor bright colors, where everything merges together.  This makes us recognize our similarities and common interests, rather than overwhelming us with disparities and conflicts.