Ice Follies 2025
February 7th - 21st, 2025THEME: OZHAASHIKWAA (THE ICE IS SLIPPERY)
There is slippery ice; extra care and consideration is needed. Travelling and moving forward is difficult; the conditions are unsteady. The terrain ahead demands resilience and adaptability as the path forward remains uncertain.
Studio Nude Beach, Old Bones, 2025
A large amorphous shape glows and shimmers on the icy lake. From shore it beckons as a curious structure to travel to, and a safe and wondrous place to walk through. The shape alludes to the presence of a large creature long past, given way to a living and enchanted decay. The site suggests a hidden folklore, its evidence re-emerging from the waters below.
Archways form a cavern much like a ribcage, with other smaller pieces surrounding the main shape to suggest a larger body. The structures are strung with sparkling, enchanting surfaces, suggesting active decay and symbiotic life forms. The journey through the beast entails a walk through a series of archways that stretch between 6 and 16 feet into the air, creating a soft, curvilinear profile, the entire installation occupying a space of around 30 feet from end to end. Durable fabrics such as tarp material would stretch between the arches, with patterned openings featuring a mix of reflective materials that flutter, allowing wind to move through the space. Experimentations will be done with kinetic analogue lighting, such as wind powered light filters and interactive shadow play for a dynamic, living animation at night. Investigations will be made in creature folklore, overlapping with narratives of ancient natural histories. The installation would be a stoic yet playfully shaped place, suggestive of local story and full of curious interactions.
Artist Bio:
Studio Nude Beach is a collective with diverse professional arts backgrounds based in North Bay, Ontario. Members include: Allison Roberts, Hannah Smith, Éric Robillard and Ben Hermann. Over the past few years, they’ve devoted their spare summer minutes to creating psychedelic gardens and other safe and squishy places to hide out. Their work has become a recognizable scene in Northern Ontario, with repeat features at the UP HERE Urban Arts and Music Festival in Sudbury, River & Sky in Field, and the Kennedy Gallery in North Bay (to name a few). Inspired by local fauna and the party section of dollar stores, they take comfort in the weird ecologies that emerge from within.
Social Links:
Studio Nude Beach Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/studionudebeach/
Allison Roberts Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alliswan.noel/
Hannah Smith Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soft_rascal/
Éric Robillard Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaleidavisuals/
Ben Hermann Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bahermann/