Déjà Vous

 

     A collection of over one thousand drawings, culled from ten years worth of journals, notepads and sketchbooks, makes up Déjà vous. Reproduced on cards of various sizes, these notes represent moments of inspiration, of curiosity, and of struggle. Displayed together they form an overwhelmingly detailed self-portrait.

 

     I consider this work an effort made collectively by various instantiations of myself over time. While I can’t recall having made each and every piece, I experience a sense of recognition upon each re-reading, triggering a feeling of déjà vu. I’ve chosen to reframe this experience as “déjà vous” to highlight the multiple selves who created the work over time: I hope that “déjà vous,” rather than “déjà vu,” captures the uncanny feeling of re-recognizing a past self.

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     This work has travelled to Edmonton and Winnipeg. It was first exhibited at Harcourt House Gallery in 2014 (images below). For the second installation in 2016, as part of RE:VISION at La Maison des Artistes Francophones in Winnipeg, the lights in the gallery were dimmed and viewers used flashlights to explore the space.

 

     I like to imagine that the ideas represented in these notes and drawings belong to a collective consciousness. I picture these ideas floating about, waiting to be caught and given form. With this understanding in mind I extended this exhibition to include a collaborative component produced with the public entitled À la carte (#dejavous). 

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     This work was first developed while participating in the 2011 Summer Institute residency at Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art in Winnipeg, Manitoba.