marisa gallemit is an Ottawa-born artist currently exploring sculpture as a medium. After studying film at Carleton University and at the New York Film Academy, she turned her focus to working with textiles, creating soft furnishings. Her newest work is inspired by and constructed with recycled and repurposed materials, concentrating on organic forms and natural textures.

courage and worthiness

Thursday, December 23, 2010 @ 5:00 PM by marisa | 0 comments »


rumour has it

Wednesday, November 24, 2010 @ 5:42 PM by marisa
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cyclelogik   my favourite bikeshop (and where i cut my teeth in the world of small business) is having another christmas art show!  should be a time - the past few have been doozies;  art, music, libations and laughs.

it was at this event two years back that i first showed my art!  this year my pal, matt ouimet will be performing live with his Super Awesome Club; it's funk and it's funky.  there will also be more musical surprises and amazing art on the walls.  hope i see many folks there.  give art for christmas - show everyone the love!



here are the details:

You're invited!
Friday, December 3rd 2010

 RUMOUR HAS IT...An art show about gossip  

WHERE CYCLELOGIK - 1111A Wellington Street West 

 

WHEN
December 3rd, 2010 @ 8PM

FEATURING
Over 40 artists
Food by Essence Catering
Tunes by MR//GREG and Super Awesome Club
 

SPONSORED BY
Mark LaFontaine of RE/MAX
Beau's All Natural Brewing Company


cyclelogik:  a grand place for a party!
cyclelogik boys in full effect:  ian and trae
super awesome club in full effect: steve and matt
cyclelogik in full effect:  alistair
cyclelogik in full effect:  justin


smart as a whip

Friday, November 19, 2010 @ 3:18 PM by marisa
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sometimes in life you are presented with special people who are just so clever and warm and radiant and lovely that it's worth trudging through all the other folks who show their dark shadows.  my dear friend, jennnifer cavanagh or jennycav as we call her is one of those such women.

 she is saucy and spicy, one whose mere presence makes me feel smarter and happier. 
sadly, she lives in london, england so i don't get so see her very often.  but luckily for us, she has a website where we can read her musings on art, events, music and gastronomie in ol' london town - from a fantastic canadian ex-pat perspective.

www.jennycavanagh.com

READ her!  please and thank you.
 


onna bugeisha

Wednesday, November 17, 2010 @ 10:34 PM by marisa | 0 comments »

i wish i could go to lady samurai school.

via oldphotosjapan.com


blog love

Monday, November 15, 2010 @ 10:44 PM by marisa
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how delightful to be a new citizen of the internets!

photo via pinterest

a girl and a machine:  the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
scored some warm nods from web friends of late, and i'm pleased as punch:

a little do-hickey  on the ARC Poetry Magazine website linking to a post of mine

and

sweet nugget  by jess on the magpie jewellery blog.

thank you friends!


solo mission

@ 12:11 AM by marisa
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i made stuff and i had my first solo show at Wurm Gallery/ Invisible Cinema on friday, october 29th 2010.
it was RAD.




i called it Past Lives: New Works and created 7 new pieces over the course of 3 months.  in keeping with my desire to use recycled and discarded material, i made hanging objects/creatures out of old bicycle innertubes, innertube valves, the film footage from my brief stint at a film production course, an Yves St-Laurent bridegroom tuxedo and a softball.

the body of work alludes to the past lives of the materials themselves as well as to my own past lives - my long-gone roles of wife, small business owner, aspiring film-maker.  this is my most personal work so far, and the process of deconstructing and transforming the materials quite unexpectedly brought me great discomfort.  i was filing things away, declaring that some things that i held dear, items with which i used to identify myself no longer held weight in their current forms.  the hanging objects on the wall are represent then, my transformation, my new life, my now.

this was my artist statement:
 

past lives

i was someone else once, something else. 
I have transformed, allowed alterations; taken on a patina, increased, decreased, more radiant each time.

I have moved with great speed with light flowing through me, with gravel beneath me, bloated with cold air.

now I swim, I soar, resuscitated in your gaze, I remember.

past lives: freshly hung
first marriage: apologies to the late yves st-laurent

editor:  fond farewell to my career in film-making
escape:  created to do just that
past lives:  the wee ones
invisble cinema:  never-used, expired film
gaffer:  sea creature? someone asked

blowfish: a heavy metal tribute to many flat tires

remnants:  cutting room floor treasures

past lives:  the big ones


if you squint you can see frames of me doing cartwheels in washington square park,nyc.




the little boy was proud and bored all at once













thanks to all the amazing folks who came to the vernissage!  works will be up until november 30th 2010.


radio raheem

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 @ 6:56 PM by marisa
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on september 16th, the lovely Julie Delaney at CBC Radio One's All in a Day with Alan Neal scored us an interview on their fabulous show to promote the ARC Poetry Magazine Annual 2011. Poets David O'Meara , Sandra Ridley and i  talked to Alan about the Chain of Poets and Artists project.

listen here:


download here:
ARC Poetry Magazine on CBC Radio One's All in A Day with Alan Neal: September 16, 2010


ARC Poetry Magazine Annual 2011

Friday, November 5, 2010 @ 3:22 PM by marisa
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my awesome friend and talented/prolific poet,  David O'Meara asked me to participate in a great project to be featured in the ARC Poetry Magazine Annual 2011.   the idea was to simulate the childhood game of 'telephone' starting with a poem (one of his, The Throw), alternating between visual artists and poets along the chain, each piece inspiring the next.

It's called ekphrasis, describing or interpreting another piece of art - a subject to which the whole issue is dedicated. being a part of this collaboration was such a delight for me, a challenge which i was more than thrilled to accept. 

the poem i received a few weeks before christmas last year was entitled Looking for You, by Gillian Wallace.  her poem was delivered to me in an email  and it captured and amazed me every day, every time i read and re-read it.  i dug deep and inhabited it, looking for cues and clues and the emotions therein.  what can i say?  it was so beautifully written, filled with queries and questions and imagery, that building my piece around it was a joy.  here is what i created:


it's called Looking for You v2.0 and this photo (which appears in the issue) was taken by my pal Stephen Taylor. and Gillian likes it!  success, i say. so on Boxing Day 2009 i deliver this piece to another amazing Ottawa talent, Barbara Myers, and she handles it so carefully that i have to giggle!  she created the wonderful poem, Night Mind - another one that blows my mind.  with permission from the poets i might post their works at a later date.

so fast-forward about 6 months and voila:

(purchase a copy here)


it's BEAUTIFUL, ain't it?
the manx hosted the issue launch/vernissage in September and we all got to meet each other and gush about the work.  it was one of the most well-attended poetry events at the manx in recent history and i was super proud to be a part of it all.  here are some snaps taken by collaborator/poet Max Middle:


ARC editor Anita Lahey and all my other participants did a helluva job - a great testament to the tight-knit and supportive arts community in our great city.


summer teeth

Friday, August 6, 2010 @ 12:36 PM by marisa
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 holy cow - it's been a few months since i've checked in.  this summer has been a delight and simply put, gorgeous.  it's been a flow of long, lazy, hot days that are somehow also extremely productive.  i feel like this is the perfect pace for me - working twice a week and enough time to be properly domestic and handle all tasks that come before me.

yoga has made a subtle and profound re-entry into my life - this time around not the physically rigourous ashtanga yoga but an exploration of gentler and more spiritual  paths, hatha and kundalini.  it's a whole new ball game - the classes still leave my body transformed in some way but without the dripping sweat and falling over from exhaustion.  the focus for me is to find calm and peace knowing that i'm massaging my organs, lengthening my muscles and soothing worries.

en garde!
i keep saying that i am now truly becoming that crazy hippie that i always aspired to be:  all gray hair, window-sill herb gardens and yoga stylee!  it's pretty liberating to finally accept it and let it happen.


the past few months have been a great time to be with trae - lots of hang time, eating shawarma in the sun for lunch, strolling around the neighbourhood, swimming, playing The Beatles Rock Band and and street badminton, making art. 
just chillin in the pool
berry-picking on canada day
this summer he discovered fencing, epee specifically at an Ottawa U summer camp.  such an elegant sport - a 'civilized' aggressive activity, one can't deny the grace required.  oh, and the fencing outfits are unbelievably stylish...cream-coloured jackets (some with moto-style collars), the mysterious, insect-like mask and one cool glove.  it's no joke, it's seriously awesome.

gotten in some good girl time, too:  vancouver to visit mamoo with pichie and a river-side picnic with boozee and jenzel.  yay!

great news recently:  i've landed a solo art show at Wurm Gallery/Invisible Cinema in late October!  my first solo show ever and i'm thrilled to bits.  the owners are the gorgeous pair Jodie and Nick (of Buried Inside fame, for all you hardcore metal fans) and have asked that the BF perform at the vernissage as Remi Royale (his cheesy, lascivious lounge singer alter-ego).   so i'm a busy beaver trying to create new works for that great space.


so far so gooooooood.