Weird Fiction - Heidi Jahnke MFA Thesis Exhibition

On May 9, 2011 I attended Heidi Jahnke’s Masters of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition. It took place in Gallery One, at the University of Waterloo Art Gallery (UWAG). Heidi Jahnke is a graduate of NSCAD’s Bachelor of Fine Arts Program, and is the recipient of the Sylvia Knight Award for Graduate Studio Excellence. The title of this exhibition was Weird Fiction –which I realized was a very appropriate title after attending the show. It was a salon style exhibit, including around 25 oil and acrylic on canvas paintings.



Weird Fiction - Heidi Jahnke (2011)

As I entered the gallery my attention was drawn first to the intense and saturated colours used in the paintings. I really enjoyed this, and was drawn to some paintings just for this reason.



Heidi Jahnke - Cake Pillow - 2011 - oil and acrylic on canvas



An example of this is the painting above in which both the background colours and most especially the mixture of colours in his eyes had me instantly captivated. These types of colours were recurrent throughout the exhibit something which I noticed and appreciated.

As I began walking around the show I kept being struck with the same feeling. Each time I came to a new painting I was struck at first with a feeling of comfort, as most of the paintings were of something very familiar. However, quickly following this was a feeling of unease, as I realized that these familiar things had been distorted and made “Weird”. I do not really know what Heidi was attempting to evoke in her audience, but to me it evoked a feeling of uneasiness. Things which were so normal and day to day were taken and morphed into something which had a definite dark side.

I think the subtlest yet darkest of this was the painting of a bunt cake (see below). At first glance it was a very ordinary painting, in fact it almost seemed like it didn’t belong, as nothing but the colours used were weird or fictitious. However upon further analysis, I noticed a bottle of comet kitchen cleaner behind the cake. This realization made all sorts of strange and dark stories and possibilities swirl within in my head.



Heidi Jahnke - Bunt Cake - 2011 - oil and acrylic on canvas




Comet Cleanser - http://www.amazon.com/Spic-Span-84919492-Comet-Cleanser/dp/B000VDWT9G



The gallery itself was quite interesting. From the outside (if you can find it at all) it does not look like anything in particular. It is housed in East Campus Hall (ECH), a building found on the eastern outskirts of the University of Waterloo Campus. UWAG shares ECH with the schools finance department, as well as uWaterloo’s mail centre. Not exactly a glamourous or attractive location.

Unlike most students on campus I actually did know that it existed before this class field trip. I find that most students the knowledge that an Art Gallery exists on campus is foreign. As for it’s relation to the Kitchener-Waterloo community I am not exactly sure; however I suspect that only people who are active in the artistic community know of it.

I think this lack of knowledge is in part because of uWaterloo’s general image. We are not known by the general population for many things other than science and technology. I personally would love to see this change, and think that it is possible for the knowledge of other faculties successes (such as UWAG) to become more known. In order for this to happen I think some kind of big eye catching, or creative and intriguing advertisement needs to be put in place. It takes a lot to get students out to any event, let alone an art gallery.

I also think having exhibits featuring art which ties in the interest of the rest of the students on campus would be helpful. For example some find of pop art/sculpture exhibit featuring outdated technology, or some exhibit featuring the newest most interesting technology being used as an art form. Once the gallery is more known on campus then getting people through the front door won’t be as difficult.

All in all it was a positive experience for me. I have been meaning to visit UWAG and am happy to have finally done so. While the show displayed was not generally to my taste, I did find some interesting pieces, and had some interesting thoughts evoked while visiting. I hope to visit again, and to see UWAG advertising a little more ruthlessly to increase the number of people walking through their door.