Memorandum: Alisa Arsenault 👚

Memorandum by Alisa Arsenault.

Presented from November 10th to 19th 2022 at Imago Artist-Run Print Studio.

Opening reception Friday November 11th at 6pm.

Trained in printmaking and photography with a BFA from the University of Moncton (2013), in her art practice Arsenault combines print and textile work with installation, video projections and sound art. Snippets of memories evoked from images and words drawn from archives and anecdotes account for her personal history and those of others, creating a fragmented and re-sewn narrative. The questioning of memory, its capacity for veracity or its unconscious distortions is at the heart of her research.

Arsenault currently works in Moncton, from the Aberdeen Cultural Centre. She has participated in several group exhibitions held in the Maritime Provinces, as well as solo exhibitions and creative residencies in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. She has been working as the Curator of Community Engagement at the Galerie d’art Louise-et-Reuben-Cohen since 2019, in addition to being an independent curator.

memorandum is a collaborative project that has been developing since 2021, and is a direct response to the isolation caused by the pandemic. Donations of sweaters and blankets knitted by members of various communities have been used as materials for the construction of a comfortable and safe space where individuals are encouraged to remember and let go. The knitted designs before their destruction are transformed into silkscreens, leaving a trace of their original form and function, as well as the words and thoughts left by the contributors. A projection shows the artist engaging in repetitive actions – a kind of self-soothing practice in a fit of anxiety.

This project is presented as part of the Media Arts component of FICFA thanks to funding support from the Canada Arts Council, the Province of New Brunswick, the City of Moncton and ArtsNB.