The Balcony, bromoil print scanned - inkjet print on matte paper, 25 x 20 in.
Joy Kardish | Years Reimagined
September 9 - 30
Reception: Saturday, September 9 @ 5 - 8 pm
Artist's Discussion: Friday, September 29 @ 5 - 6 pm
join us for a sit-down discussion with artists Joy Kardish, Ava Margueritte, and curator Tiffany April
RSVP your attendance to responses@wallspacegallery.ca
Wall Space gallery is honoured to present the latest body of photographic works of Ottawa-based artist Joy Kardish. Merging the worlds of historic photographic practices with contemporary technologies, Kardish captures the quiet way that memories transform as they grow with us, informing our sense of self. Freezing objects and moments from her own life, Kardish explores the powerful pull of sentiment embedded in our environment; in both the objects we choose to house our memories and the places that our life paths lead us.
Quiet, platinum palladium print scanned - inkjet print on matte paper, 20 x 25 in.
In the words of American photographer Peter Liepke, “In a world that is far from perfect, I am far more interested in the aspect of showing the viewer what could be instead of what is.” Joy Kardish agrees wholeheartedly that holding true to this vision of what could be is fundamental to this body of work.
There is an enchantment shimmering beneath Kardish's images, a feeling of desire; not in a nostalgic longing for the past directly, but for an imagined space of potential. Coming from a background of abuse in her early years, "[h]er work allows her to reimagine her early life as she would have wished it and provides a rich opportunity to marry memory with different, more beautiful outcomes."
We look forward to sharing this new body of works with you. This exhibition will take place at our new location 1090 Bank St. and will be celebrated alongside Wall Space's 15 year anniversary + grand re-opening!
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Joy Kardish explores the essence of stillness –the purest and most irreducible quality of the photo-image. Inspired by the enduring prints of early masters like Alfred Stieglitz, Kardish blends painstaking historic photography techniques such as cyanotype and platinum palladium, with contemporary media to create works that seem to transcend the flow of time and cut through its ephemeral distractions.In her five decade career, Kardish has exhibited nationally and internationally including Ottawa, Toronto, and New York. In 2023, she was a finalist for the Project X: Photography Award and received honourable mention in the Julia Margaret Cameron Photography Awards. She has received numerous awards and been featured in publications including Black & White Magazine as the Alternative Process Competition Winner (2022). Kardish lives and creates in Ottawa, ON.