Laura Gildner
This exhibition opens on Friday, May 5th, 7:00–9:00 PM
Artist talk: Saturday, May 13th, 2 PM.
Exhibition runs through Sunday, May 21st, 2017.
Gallery Hours:
Saturdays and Sundays, 12 to 4 pm,
or by appointment.
Intimate Belonging considers the nature of exchange and its potential to transform vulnerability from an idiosyncrasy into a strength that facilitates connection. Interviewing strangers and acquaintances about the often overlooked objects they interact with on a daily basis, Laura Gildner creates anonymous portraits of her subjects through photography, text, and sound installation. Questions surrounding participation in acts of exchange, particularly ones posed by Marcel Mauss in his anthropological classic The Gift, become inspiration for exploring how such actions are able to situate relative strangers within a community.
As part of this exhibition Laura will also be creating a collaborative space within the gallery inviting visitors to interact with the project directly by participating in interview sessions or by choosing to exchange objects of personal in/significance with the artist.

Artist Bio:
Laura Gildner is an artist and curator currently studying visual art at the University of Victoria. She works across the disciplines of photography, video, performance, sound and installation, and is especially interested in exploring community dynamics through exercises in social practice and relational aesthetics.

Laura has exhibited in BC, Ontario, and Quebec, and participated in the IPA Summer Residency in Forte Marghera, Italy, this past summer.