Kim Adams, Minnow Lure, 2004

Materials: Steel storage bin and animal feeder, assorted materials

Kim Adams’ entry into the Ice Follies is a monumental work described as being of “subversive engineering.” Completely constructed of corrugated metal, this “bug-eyed” hut comes complete with a heater, a doorbell, peepholes, candy green seats, cupholders (perfectly sized for beer cans), portholes, toys for adults (sex in a can through a viewfinder), and it’s hung with fantastic lures. This work is meant to be a functional work of art that can be used as an ice fishing hut. Adams has described this work as having a “pop can” look to it. And indeed, in a wonky sense, it does. Following the inaugural exhibition, artist Kim Adam’s piece, Minnow Lure, was acquired by the National Gallery’s permanent collection.

Artist Bio:

Kim Adams lived in rural Ontario. He is a “process-oriented” artist who manipulates pop-cultural artifacts, i.e. found objects, to create miniature worlds and odd buildings. This internationally known Canadian contemporary art is often influenced by architectural accident and in manufacturing inexplicable structures. He has shown his body of work nationally and internationally since 1978. Adams’ work has been included in Art Grandeur Nature, a public art biennial in Paris and On Location: Public Art for the New Millenium at Vancouver Art Gallery. Recent solo exhibitions include Scott Gallery, Emily Carr College, Vancouver (1999), Galerie Christiane Chassey, Montreal (1998), The Power Plant, Toronto (1992), and Skulptur Projekte, Muenster, Germany (1997). Represented by Wynick/Tuck Gallery in Toronto, he is well known to Canadian arts audiences

Keith Campbell, Through the Looking Glass, 2004

Materials: Glass and plywood on runners

Through the Looking Glass is Keith Campbell’s crystalline work of art. Made completely of mirrors, this work is all about reflecting back, in a kaleidoscopic way, the beautiful landscape of Lake Nipissing.

The creation is always in flux as it continually changes depending on what it is reflecting, integrating the visitor within the art piece itself. In it we see our projections and reflections, by the pitch of the mirrors, there is a synthesis happening, a becoming one with the work. With this, he establishes an unstable dynamic where everything shifts and distorts each time we take a step, we cannot determine anything absolutely.

His could stand for the prismatic life underwater, with its brilliant surface and obscure core. Since it is not possible to get inside, we are constrained by our imagination. It is beautiful and wondrous. The material — mirrors — compositionally reference the site, specifically the ice and water beneath. It gives one reason to pause to reflect on what is the “real” reality — that which is around one or the one reflected back. In a certain sense, it was somewhat disconcerting how the piece integrated itself so completely within its surrounding landscape.

Artist Bio:

Keith Campbell, a North Bay native, is a multi-faceted artist who works in a variety of media. He has exhibited his works in over 250 exhibitions winning over 40 awards/honours. His work is included in numerous collections including R.O.M. and the National Museum on Civilization. Keith has also worked as a professor and artist in residence at Canadore College, North Bay, ON.

Ernest Daetwyler, Ice Bubbles, 2004

Materials: Bubble-wrap, steel, wood and plastic ties

Ice Bubbles by Ernest Daetwyler consists of several smaller bubble huts that people were invited to enter into. Daetwyler was inspired to create these works by a young girl that he knew, who told him that she’d like to get her family and friends into bubbles and then fly away. It is a whimsical installation that speaks about new life, childhood, and our simple, yet profound connections to the lake and nature. Within each of these bubbles hangs a dream catcher, made of chains and locked. In these huts one doesn’t catch fish, one catches — and ostensibly gets to hold onto — dreams.

Artist Bio:

Ernest Daetwyler studied at the Sachule fuer Gestaltung, Bern, the Centro Europeo in Venice, Italy and received his master diploma from the Schule fuer Gestaltung, St. Gallen, Switzerland. His multidisciplinary work has been shown in Canada and abroad. He is the recipient of numerous awards from the Ontario Arts Council, Presence Suisse, the City of Kitchener, the City of Stratford and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, N.Y. Ernest also had exhibitions at the 2004 Yugoslaw Biennial of Young Artists, Vrsac, Serbia, the 8th Havana Biennial, Cuba, ArtCanal during the expo.02, Switzerland, the Art Gallery of Mississauga, Cambridge Galleries, the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Ed Video Media Arts Centre, Guelph and Peak Gallery, Toronto.

Susan Detwiler, Housecoat, 2004

Materials: Purpose-built hut wrapped in parka materials

Susan Detwiler is known as an artist who uses fabric in unique contexts. She has been known to work with roadkill and hunter’s blinds in the past. For this show, Detwiler has clothed a hut in snowmobile suit material, given it pockets and a sash, and in this way “humanized” the structure. The use of the wool and flannel, stuffed with polyfill, gives the hut a layer of extra protection. This “protection” is something that humankind has needed in dealing with and surviving in the natural world, however, now it is more often than not the environment that needs protection from humankind. And on another level, the work simply references our desire and need for warmth and comfort. The hut is titled Housecoat

Artist Bio:

Susan Detwiler is a contemporary artist living in Southwestern Ontario. Her art practice is based on her daily interactions and observations within the natural landscape. Recent works include installation, sculpture, video, photography and drawing. Susan studied at the NSCAD and later at the University of Guelph. She currently teaches at the Dundas Valley School of Art and the University of Guelph.

Dan Elzinga, A Tribute to Clifton Whiten, 2004

Materials: Found hut with mixed materials

Dan Elzinga is a local community member who died recently. From outside, the hut looks like a humble, cobbled-together shack. However, within the ice hut, one finds a number of significant objects and mementos, chosen for their associative relationship to Clifton Whiten. These consist of a strange wood, glass, and lead sculptures. Inside visitors could activate a time delay device that turns on lights and a soundtrack that is built into the shack. Elzinga has stated that his intention, as well as creating a memorial with a specific intention, would also be evocative for those who didn’t know Whiten. Essentially, as the title indicates, visitors must find — or fish for — their own meaning in this work.

Artist Bio:

Dan Elzinga is a North Bay artist who has shown across the North and who works in many media including audio, video, installation, paint, and new media. Personally close to the project, Dan is deeply interested in lake life and the ice-fishing subculture. He is a graduate of Queen’s University Department of Fine Arts and, as a member of White Water Gallery artist-run centre, has been an activist for contemporary art in the area for over a decade.

Ivan Juraki, Lure, 2004

Materials: Re-clad found hut with a light beam

Lure is a pure white toylike hut that blends into its surroundings except for the doorway. Through a large keyhole cut into the door of the hut a strong light shines enticing the viewer to look inside. This keyhole is the only access to the interior of the piece. Entry is frustrated. In doing so Lure acts to stimulate the viewer’s imagination. One doesn’t know what is inside, it might be something horrible or it could be something fascinating. The locked door and the tantalizing title combine to create a work potent with possible meaning.

Artist Bio:

Ivan Jurakic is a visual player, writer, and curator based in Hamilton, Ontario. He has exhibited at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, Articite, Museum London, Gallery 96, Woodstock Art Gallery, Burchfield-Penney Art Centre, Big Orbit Gallery, CAFKA.05, and numerous off-site exhibitions. He received his MFA from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2004, and has worked as Curator for Cambridge Galleries.

Catherine Kozyra, Waiting for Leviathan, 2004

Materials: Vinyl yurt with aluminum and sausage casings

Catherine Kozyra’s idea for this project evolved from the image of “fishing for the Leviathan” as represented in the Book of Job in the Old Testament. This hut is comprised of a geodesic-style dome made of translucent space-age fabric. The fabric is stretched taut into shape by an exoskeleton composed of PVC piping. The translucent shell of the tent is covered with a loosely woven semi-sheer flesh-colored gauze whose fibers have been pulled and separated creating the openness and organic lines present in the natural gut. Synthetic sausage casings, not too unlike the natural casings used in some of my earlier architectural structures, are attached to the gauze fabric creating a subtle effect of marbles veining upon the outer structure. The completed “hut” resembles the tents that are made by Native Canadians and Inuit. It seems somehow subversive though. These skin tents would normally be used in the summer and there is an intentional sense of disjunction created through its situation on a frozen lake. The work has a strong organic feel to it even though it is constructed out of man-made fabrics and materials.

Artist Bio:

Catherine Koyzra is a well-known Thunder Bay artist. Her recent Pouch Cove Residency in Pouch Cove, Newfoundland, culminated in an exhibition entitled Travelling Lights at the James Baird Gallery in St. John’s NF. In July, 2004 she constructed Double Jeopardy for Art in the Park III- The Sleeping Giant Project. Double Jeopardy was a series of four large installations situated on Lake Superior mimicking the submerged mine shafts of Silver Islet. At the CAFKA exhibit in Kitchener in September. 2004 she installed Soul of Etude, a 9′ x 9′ x 4′ metal installation incorporating, mylar and hanging Lake Superior stones. At the time of Ice Follies 2004, Cathy was in the process of conceptualizing new ideas for an upcoming two-person exhibition in Sudbury curated by Lisa Fitzgobbons.