Artist Information
Amy Modahl
The home tells stories. The arrangement of furniture, stacked objects, negative spaces, worn floors, hard shapes, and soft cloth speak viscerally layering present and past experience. In this current body of paintings, I record and respond materially in graphite, ink, pastel, and oil on wood, canvas, or found paper.
In recent years, I’ve worked with paint, print, drawing, performance, and stop-motion animation to investigate the vocabulary of space, visual-translation, and human and material gesture. I often consider whether words affect perception, pointing speakers to some observations and experiences. Thus, I attempt to reach beyond words with repetition and slow visual and tactile contemplation where material and ground become a physical and visual language giving form to intuitive connection.
My work has shown in several solo and group exhibitions including at the Kelowna Art Gallery, Stride Gallery (Calgary), Vernon Public Art Gallery, and Soo Visual Art Center (Minneapolis, MN), and the Alternator Centre (Kelowna). I hold an Interdisciplinary MFA in Visual Art from the University of British Columbia, Kelowna, an MA in Applied Linguistics from Northern Arizona University, and a BA in Fine Art, Art History, & Spanish from St. Cloud State in Minnesota.
EDUCATION
2013 MFA, Visual Arts, Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies, UBC, Kelowna, BC
Thesis: The Object of the Verb: Aesthetic Exploration of Language, Supervisor: Briar Craig
1997 MA, Applied Linguistics and TESOL dual degree, graduated with high honors, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
1993 BA, Art History, Fine Art & Spanish, St. Cloud State University, MN
2004 Printmaking and Drawing, Continuing Studies courses, Emily Carr University, Vancouver
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2016 Seeing Language project, residence at UBCO sponsored Studio 111, Rotary Centre, Kelowna
2014 Banff Artist in Residence, Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta
2009 Centre for Innovation in Canadian Arts and Culture, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC
SOLO EXHIBITIONS (* indicates professionally curated)
2018 *fold and unfold, SAGA Art Gallery, Salmon Arm, BC
2017 All of the words of the words have words, window gallery mural, Alternator Centre, Kelowna BC
2016 *Where the Heart Is, Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna, BC
2014 *dis/Order, Vernon Public Art Gallery, Vernon, BC
2013 The Object of the Verb, Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, Members’ Gallery, Kelowna
2012 Folioscope, additive print series, FINA Gallery, UBCO, Kelowna, BC
Please Remember to Forget, print series and installation, Platypus House, UBCO, Kelowna, BC
2009 Outside the Lines, Arnica Artist Run Centre, Kamloops, BC
Colouring Book, Speakeasy Gallery, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018 Core, group exhibition, Headbones Gallery, Dec 2018- Jan 2019
2016 *Drawing from Life, drawn-mural exhibition, Kelowna Art Gallery, November 2016 – Feb 2017
Shhhhhh, Headbones Gallery, Vernon, BC, July-August
*My Mind’s Eye (reflecting on characters from Shakespearean plays), in conjunction with an exhibition of Shakespeare’s First Folio, Duluth Art Institute, MN, October
2015 Verstehen, creative process exhibition, Satellite Cases, Campbell River Art Gallery, BC
Dear Hands that Sell, drawing-based animation, Not Sent Letters Media event, VIVO, Vancouver
2013 Saturday Morning Cartoons, Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna, BC
Poetry on the Page, group exhibition within a poetry conference, FINA Gallery, UBCO, Kelowna
2011 Practice-based Research Experiment, FINA Gallery, UBCO, Kelowna, BC
2007 *Little Landscapes and Miniature Worlds, Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond, BC
2005 The 20, Butchershop Gallery, Vancouver
Modahl, 30/04/19, page 2/3 AMCOR COLLABORATION (as Officer Dåhl of AmCor, in collaboration with Corinne Thiessen as Officer Îdîå)
2018 LIAR! LIAR!, AmCor Inc. 3-day interactive drawing performance, Living Things Festival, Kelowna, BC
2017 *LIAR! LIAR!, AmCor Inc. drawing exhibition, audio installation and participatory performance, Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
2015 *LIAR! LIAR!, AmCor Inc. drawing exhibition, audio installation and participatory performance, Stride Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
2014 LIAR! LIAR!, AmCor Inc. drawing exhibition, audio installation and participatory performance, Petit Trianon Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta
JANET COLLABORATION (Works created under the name of Janet, mostly with Christine Ferguson of U of Glasgow and Camilla Pickard of Langara College)
2014 Clean Cooking for Clean Eating, performance with jello-mold sculptures, with collaborator Julia (Janet) Prudhomme, Beat Salad poetry event, Woodshed Readings, Centre for Eco-Culture, Kelowna, BC
2012 Janet Louise Ciccone: The Poet Speaks, performance, Word Rukus poetry event, Kelowna, BC,
2009 Congratulations! performance collaboration with Camilla Pickard, Emily Carr University, Vancouver
2007 “Feminist?,” collaborative text by the artist, Christine Ferguson, and Camilla Pickard in English Studies in Canada (Edmonton: University of Alberta), June to September, April, 2007, pp. 51-68.
2006 Art Star: Janet Amateur, Janet Professional, performance, presentation and panel discussion, Emily Carr University, Vancouver
2006 Collaboration, group show and performance (Amy Modahl and Camilla Pickard as Janet), Emily Carr University, Vancouver
2005 The Face of Janet 2005, interactive performance game (Amy Modahl and Camilla Pickard as Janet), Helen Pitt Gallery
Z is for Zebra, Janet-curated zine exhibition (Amy Modahl and Camilla Pickard as Janet), Helen Pitt Gallery, Vancouver
Snow White & Rose Red, Lesbian Twin Fantasy: 5 Whole Minutes of Implied Girl-on-Girl Action, performance with publication (Amy Modahl and Camilla Pickard as Janet), Helen Pitt/Access Gallery cabaret, Vancouver
2004 Fame&Shameless exhibition, performance, and Janet, Issue3 launch (Amy Modahl, Christine Ferguson, and Camilla Pickard as Janet), Helen Pitt Gallery, Vancouver
Plagiarized, Janet, Issue 2 launch, Copyright, group show (Amy Modahl, Christine Ferguson, and Camilla Pickard as Janet), Concourse Gallery, Emily Carr University, Vancouver
ARTIST’S TALKS AND PRESENTATIONS
2018 Artist Talk, Salmon Arm Public Art Gallery, May 17
Artist Talk, creative research and cultural theory course, UBCO, Kelowna, BC, January 15
2016 Artist Talk, Kelowna Art Gallery, December 7
Seeing Language project workshop, Studio 111, UBCO Bumping Zones Conference, Kelowna, BC May 8 - 10, 2016
Artist talk, Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna, BC, February 2016
2014 Persuasive Gesture: Visual Investigation of Nonverbal Communication in Political Speeches, Research Showcase speaker series, Okanagan College, Kelowna, BC
ART NOW artist speaker series, University of Lethbridge, AB
2014 dis/Order: Intersection of Art and Text, exhibition catalogue launch, participatory talk/event with Jake Kennedy and Kevin McPherson Eckoff, Vernon Public Art Gallery, Vernon, BC
Creative Process talk, Vernon Public Art Gallery, Vernon, BC
2013 Kidnapping as Creative Practice, Endnotes Conference, visual/verbal presentation, UBC, Vancouver
2012 Morphosis: The Creative Convergence of Language and Art, 15/15 Seminar Series, UBCO, Kelowna, BC
2009 Artist’s talk, Center for Innovation in Canadian Arts and Culture, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops Modahl, 30/04/19, page 3/3
PUBLICATIONS BY THE ARTIST
“The Spaces Between,” essay & drawn images, Kapsula Magazine (Toronto), Vol. 2, No. 2, May, 2015, pp. 8-11.
“Ideas & Things,” Kamloops Art Gallery exhibition review, Galleries West magazine online, posted May 10, 2015
“Kevin Day and Nathan McNinch: A Scanner Ubiquity,” essay for Scanner Ubiquity exhibition, with artists Kevin Day and Nathan McNinch. Kelowna: Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, 2015.
Lección, series of prints, Capilano Review, webfolio 9, 2014
“Build your own graduate student,” pH Magazine, (Kelowna, BC, University of British Columbia Okanagan), Summer, 2011, pp. 5-6.
Transcript 108754618,” Front Magazine (Vancouver), January-February, 2009, Vol. XX, No. 1, pp. 22-3.
“Certified Mail,” W Magazine (Vancouver: Kootenay School of Writing), March, 2008, issue 13, p. 19.
“Domino Effect,” in Cobraheads. Vancouver: Butchershop Gallery Press, 2005, pp. 4-6.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Burns, Kristin. “Artists Amy Modahl & Julia Prudhomme: It was Apple Juice that brought them here,” OOOK: Magazine of Okanagan Arts and Culture, online resources, posted May 17, 2012.
Culen, Lubos. “Amy Modahl: dis/Order,” in Amy Modahl: dis/Order. Vernon: Vernon Public Art Gallery, 2014, pp.5-7.
Froneman, Kristin. “Artist Amy Modahl Creates her own Visual Language,” Vernon Morning Star (Vernon, BC), January 3, 2014.
Kennedy, Jake. “Preliminary Interrogation.” AmCor Inc exhibition text for Stride Gallery, Calgary, September 2015.
Kennedy, Jake and Kevin McPherson Eckhoff, “To Honour the Spaces that Exist…” (title truncated). Creative response. In Amy Modahl: dis/Order. Vernon: Vernon Public Art Gallery, 2014, pp. 13-24.
Mowatt, Gail. Interview with Amy Modahl, aired on The Muse, radio program. CKVS radio (Salmon Arm, BC), 93.7 FM, September 26, 2013.
Simes, Jeremy. “Calgary Human Lie Detectors will Make You Feel Uncomfortable,” Metro News (Calgary), posted Sept. 6, 2015:
Wadsley, Helena. “Review, Liar! Liar! performance and installation by Amy Modahl and Corinne Thiessen,” PrairieSeen (Edmonton-based blog), issue 2, Winter, 2014, pp. 20-3:
Wyllie, Laura, “Amy Modahl: Where the Heart Is interview at the Kelowna Art Gallery.” Kelowna Art Gallery, BC, February 2016.
Wylie, Liz. “Where the heart is” Folio for solo exhibition by the same name. Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna, BC, January, 2016.
Youds, Mike. “Artist Summons Memories, Reflections through Collage,” Kamloops Daily News, July 5, 2009.
EMPLOYMENT
2019 Program Development, Fine Arts, Okanagan College, Kelowna BC
2010 - now Faculty, Communications, FINA, & Anthropology Departments, Okanagan College, Kelowna, BC
2017 July Sessional Instructor, Introductory drawing & design, Creative + Critical Studies, UBCO
2012, 2015 Sessional Faculty, Linguistic Anthropology, Community, Culture & Global Studies Dept, UBCO
2013 Writing Fellow, Centre for Scholarly Communication, UBC, Kelowna January – August, 2013
2002- 2010 Lecturer Critical + Cultural Studies Department,Emily Carr University, Vancouver, BC
International Women’s Day Group Exhibition e-Catalog 2021
International Women’s Day Group Exhibition 2021: #ChooseToChallenge
International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Significant activity is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women’s achievements or rally for women’s equality.