ARTISTS: Richard Yu-Tang Lee, Biliana Velkova, and Jennifer Tazewell Mawby
PROPOSAL DOWNLOADS: Exhibition_Proposal_PDF | Artist CV’s PDF | Artwork Examples PDF | Educational and Public Engagement Program Examples PDF
Curatorial Proposal: In 1515, German artist Albrecht Dürer produced a woodcut drawing of a rhinoceros based on secondhand descriptions rather than firsthand observation. Unsurprisingly the result was not a true-to-life representation but a fantastical depiction filled with mythical narrative potential. This infamous historical incident highlights how drawing, at its core, is a primal and fundamental method of expression, capturing ideas with immediacy and clarity — even those rooted in pure fantasy.
This exhibition features three artists — Richard Yu-Tang Lee, Biliana Velkova, and Jennifer Tazewell Mawby — who explore the duality of fantastical worldbuilding and storytelling through drawing. Each artist uses drawing as a central part of their practice, investigating how words and images can transform each other and how images can evolve into narratives. This exhibition delves into the intimate relationship between worldbuilding, storytelling, and drawing by showcasing the creation of mythical beings, mystical reinterpretations of the natural world, and the rationalization of lived experiences through the lens of human archetypes. The artists critically examine the notion that all archetypes and myths are constructs of the human imagination, intended to bridge the gap between the known and the unknown.
The trio also shares a commonality in creating large-scale oil pastel drawings and works on paper. Utilizing an epic scale, the artists transform these works from simple sketches or studies into physical and immersive experiences requiring the viewer to move physically to engage fully. Large horizontal pieces necessitate viewers to walk alongside them, creating a time-based viewing experience, while vertical or overhanging works envelop the viewer, creating immersive environments.
The exhibition’s inclusion of magical realism and otherworldly imagery challenges traditional views of reality and explores possibilities beyond the ordinary. These themes broaden to consider the universal aspects of human experience, highlighting how storytelling serves as a means to reconcile personal struggles within the broader human narrative. The exhibition invites viewers to reflect on the boundaries between real and imagined realms and to consider myths and archetypes as generative tools for understanding the world.
New works and a catalog will be created for this exhibition.
ARTIST BIO’S
Biliana Velkova
Biliana Velkova is originally from Sofia, Bulgaria, Biliana Velkova is based in Vancouver, Canada. Her practice incorporates painting, drawing and performance to explore the significance of diaspora, Slavic folklore, and social identity. Through her Bulgarian lens, Velkova inserts a magical realism narrative by presenting alternative ways of viewing and interpreting a post-collapse reality. She has an MFA from the University of Saskatchewan and a BFA from Concordia University.
www.bilianavelkova.ca
IG: @missbiliana
Richard Yu-Tang Lee
Richard Yu-Tang Lee is a BIPOC multidisciplinary artist who makes work about nature and the cooperation of opposites to process and express his life experiences and worldview.
Lee is from Chicago, IL and is based currently in Portland, ME, where he paints and co-owns Little Brother Chinese Food – an actual growing frozen Chinese food business and performative artistic practice operated with his wife and collaborator, Claire Guyer.
www.richardlee.art
IG: @itsmerichardlee
Jennifer Tazewell Mawby
Jennifer Tazewell Mawby is a Canadian/British artist working in Vancouver BC, Canada. Working across drawing, painting, and sculptural installation, her predominately figurative works are idiosyncratic with invented pictorial worlds and narratives gleaned from ancient history, myth, and science fiction. Mawby holds a Master of Fine Art from UCA/OCA in the UK and has studied at Emily Carr University of Art and Design, The Royal Drawing School, Turps Banana, and the New York City Crit Club. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, the U.S., and Australia,
www.jjtmstudio.com
IG: @jenniferjeanmawby
Durer’s Rhinoceros (1515)
