Connections 2 (2005)
About the Artist:
For the past 30 years, Persimmon Blackbridge has worked as a visual artist, writer,
curator and performer, as well as being a fiction editor, cleaning lady and very
bad waitress. She frequently writes on her artwork and illustrates her writing.
Winner of the VIVA award for visual arts in 1991, a 1995 Lambda Award in Washington,
DC and the 1998 Ferro Grumley Fiction Prize in New York City, Blackbridge is the
author of six books and many stories and articles. Her art has been shown across
Canada and the US as well as in Europe, Australia and Hong Kong. She currently lives
on Hornby Island in British Columbia.
Artist's Statement:
I grew up with a learning disability and a psych diagnosis, in a family thick with
psych inmates, outpatients and learning disabled folks. Disability has been a
recurring subject in my art since 1978. The work here is part of an ongoing series
of portraits of people with disabilities. I've asked a number of people to send me
photographs of themselves and "objects of meaning". Meaning?
Anything from their highest award to lint from the pockets of their favourite
jeans. These become the basis for a mixed media portrait that reflects some of
what I know of them.
Ben Berkeveld is a chef, living with HIV, pictured here with his boyfriend Pat.
My mother, Jean Ashbrook, had a learning disability. Feel free to gently turn
the crank.
I'd like to acknowledge photographer and woodworker Della McCreary, who did
the mechanical and wood construction and took the background photos in these
pieces. She finds ways to help realize my craziest notions and makes sure that
when you turn the crank, something actually happens.
Commissions and Collections:
John Ralston Saul
Art Bank (with Kiss & Tell and Lorna Boschman)
B.C. Provincial Government Collection
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria BC
Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, BC
Centre for Independent Living, Calgary, Alberta
United Bank Workers, Vancouver, BC
Various private collections
Awards:
|
2000 |
Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design
Distinguished Alumni Award |
|
1999 |
BC Association for Community Living:
Community Partner Award |
|
1998 |
VanCity Book Prize (with Bonnie
Klein) |
|
1997 |
Finalist: Lambda Literary Award,
Washington, DC |
|
1997 |
Finalist: American Library Association
Award |
|
1996 |
Ferro-Grumley Fiction Prize,
New York City, New York |
|
1996 |
Finalist: Lambda Literary Award,
Washington, DC |
|
1995 |
Lambda Literary Award
(with Kiss & Tell) |
|
1993 |
Community Achievement Award (with Kiss
& Tell),
Toronto Association for Lesbian and Gay Studies |
|
1992 |
Northwest Film and Video Festival Judges'
Award (with Kiss & Tell and Lorna Boschman) |
|
1991 |
Vancouver Institute for Visual Arts
Award (VIVA) |
Books:
|
2000 |
"Prozac Highway", (French Edition),
Editions Robert Laffont, Paris, France |
|
1999 |
"Prozac Highway", (UK Edition),
Marion Boyars Publishers, London, England |
|
1997 |
"Prozac Highway", (original edition),
Press Gang Publishers, Vancouver, BC |
|
1997 |
"Slow Dance" (with Bonnie Klein),
Knopf Canada, Toronto, ON |
|
1996 |
"Sunnybrook: a True Story with Lies",
Press Gang Publishers, Vancouver, BC |
|
1994 |
"Her Tongue on my Theory" (with Kiss
& Tell), Press Gang Publishers, Vancouver, BC |
|
1991 |
"Drawing the Line" (with Kiss
& Tell), Press Gang Publishers, Vancouver, BC |
|
1985 |
"Still Sane" (with Sheila Gilhooly),
Press Gang Publishers, Vancouver, BC |
