Kelowna-based artist and OUC professor Briar Craig has the ability to turn found objects of seemingly little significance into thought-provoking works that are at times unsettling and at times light-hearted.

Craig describes himself as a “shameless appropriator.” He gathers images and words from magazines, street signs and newspapers and other assorted items from our world of mass production and excess.

In his latest work, Emerda, Craig has turned his attention to the shapes and sounds of words and individual letters. The inspiration came from a box of old flash cards he discovered in a junk store. Craig created his own set of worn out flash cards which have been used to produce visually rich and textured prints. He’s taken some artistic liberty by arranging letters to create new words. This lends an element of play into these visual puzzles.

Craig is not fascinated with just the printed word. He is also intrigued by the way information is delivered and how altering it can change its meaning. Craig accomplishes this by taking pages from current magazines and newspapers and cropping, tearing and even firing holes into them to reveal layers of fragmented words and images.

Exhibition images

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