

Idea Exchange
Queen's Square
1 North Square, Cambridge, ON
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Jst wrds is an exhibition that provokes a reading of text for its formal, visual, and auditory capacity. Ideas of interpretation, miscommunication and ownership of language are presented in works that are comprised exclusively of text, yet suggest sculptural forms. Incarnated in neon, corporate signage, digital displays and projections these pieces are based on personal narratives and conversational fragments collected by the artist, and allude to meaning reflective of diverse cultural and historical settings. Singer proposes a series of possible readings that exist within the tensions of private stories among public spaces. Conceptual approaches and visual considerations of the words themselves provide alternative meanings to formal definitions and suggest emotional embodied responses in their place.
Yvonne Singer is a practicing artist with an active national and international exhibition record. Her installation works employ multimedia techniques, often with cryptic texts to articulate cultural issues of disjuncture and perception. She is particularly interested in the intersection of public and private histories. Recent exhibitions include Gone Missing (Loop Gallery, Toronto), The Trouble with Translation (tour - Germany, France, Canada), Alphabets (Stewart Hall, Montreal), Crossroad (Visual Art Centre, Clarington), and The Veiled Room (ACC Galerie, Weimar, Germany). She has received several public art commissions and her work is found in many private collections. Professor Singer teaches at the Department of Visual Arts, York University Toronto and is the former director of its Graduate Program.
List of Works
Grandmother’s Letter. 2013. Text from letter received by the artist printed in vinyl and installed on glass wall
I wa wa wa want… Neon and mirrors. Installed in the main entrance
what language. Video. Shown on the main lobby monitor on loop
Gone Missing. Neon
the secret is out. 2013Video installation (3 channel projection)
A fleeting conversation. Text piece programmed and shown on LED display