Coexist is a joint exhibit by Teenybotanist and Cecelia Leddy from Banff. It combines analog 35mm photography with digital drawings.
CANMORE – The latest exhibition to open at artsPlace was born online.
Coexist is a collaborative exhibit between a pair of Banff-based artists, Teenybotanist, Cecelia Leddy, and Nahanni McKay, which combines analog 35mm photography and digital drawings.
“Last year I was in a creative slump and I couldn’t figure out what to make next,” said McKay, the photographer of the duo. “I found Cecilia on Instagram… I knew she was a great illustrator and asked if she wanted to draw over one of my photos.”
After scrolling through McKay’s Instagram feed, Leddy eventually chose a picture of Mount Assiniboine to digitally draw over. The result was only the beginning of their collaboration.
The online popularity of the first artwork led to the pair making prints and selling them at Sideshow Gallery in Banff. The demand for the print was overwhelming so the pair decided to collaborate on a second piece, featuring Mount Rundle.
The pair decided to expand their vision and eventually found a gallery to exhibit their joint artwork.
“I happened to see a call for artists from artsPlace for their community exhibition, which happened to be the last day for submissions,” said Leddy. “We ended up getting selected for our own exhibition and since then we have been hustling to create more and collaborate more for the exhibition.”
The exhibition was discovered by the couple in October. Since then, there has been a frenzy of activity to create new artwork, print and assemble it.
Leddy said that due to the limited time they had to put together the exhibition, there was a lot of pressure on the pair. But she said that the Bow Valley community rose to the occasion and helped make the show possible.
“I’m actually so humbled by how much community involvement has come into play here from getting things on rush order, putting out a call on the Facebook for supplies … having people run to Calgary for us – we had a lot of help and I think that’s what this exhibition at artsPlace is all about, it involves the community,” said Leddy.
McKay first photographed the mountainscape. Leddy takes McKay’s photograph and adds her own artistic touch to it. Leddy then adds her own illustration to the photograph.
The art aims to show the interdependence between people and their environment.
“We came up with Coexist first of all because there are two mediums – photography and illustration existing together to create this really beautiful work,” said McKay. “It also explores how humans are physically small in the universe but how we have a huge impact on the environment and how we need to learn how to coexist as one on the planet.”
The exhibition opened on January 6th and will remain open until Monday, Feb. 21st. The pair will be hosting an opening reception on Thursday (Jan. 13) from 6-8:30 p.m. at artsPlace by RSVP only.
