Catalogue Spotlight:
May 2026
Embodiment
Hello VP Website and Newsletter readers,
This time of the year always reminds me of when I was in elementary school. After months of giant, bulky ski pants and down-filled puffer jackets at recess, the sun would start peaking out of the clouds and warm up the playground. I would roll up my sleeves and feel the cool air on my skin, no longer fearing the potential of frostbite.
As it starts to warm up, I yearn for time outdoors more than anything. I start day dreaming about sketching in the grass, hikes at Fort Whyte, bike rides at Assiniboine Park, and swimming at the beach, long before the weather stays consistently above zero. While prairie winters can be restorative in their own... Uniquely cruel way, I feel spring and early summer offer us a chance for expansion and (re)connection, especially with nature.
As I’ve been working on these spotlights throughout the year, watching the seasons go by, I have been pondering on our symbiotic relationship with nature; how our bodies interact with our environment, and vice versa. For this month’s spotlight I’ve chosen to showcase three works that focus on the relationship between embodiment and the landscape: Sexy Highland Stream by Nathan Adler, When Land and Body Merge by Jamie Black and Linsday Delaronde, and After Birth by The Ephemerals.
For more information and previews of each of these works, visit their catalogue page by clicking on the title!
Daydreams and warm regards,
- Jo Reimer, Dist Assist
Sexy Highland Stream by Nathan Adler, 2021
A spoken word poem and minimalist audio track about a sexy highland stream, a love letter to the beauty found in nature, and the mysterious way beauty is suffused in the natural world, written in English and Anishinaabemowin.
When Land and Body Merge by and Jaime Black Lindsay Delaronde, 2020
Jaime Black and Lindsay Delaronde live in territories that are far apart. These territories look vastly different, the caregivers of these lands speak different languages, ceremonies and traditions differ. Through the creation of this online project it became clear that Jaime and Lindsay share an understanding of care and connection to the land. The territories they live on, the Lekwungen Territory and Treaty One Territory are the third collaborators in the project. When Land and Body Merge began with the artists and curator meeting online, and over a two month period creating work through video and writing that allowed them to connect and build a relationship from afar. They worked with the idea of a call and response with Lindsay creating work, and Jaime responding to it, and vice versa.
After Birth by The Ephemerals, 2018
After Birth, an inter-generational journey to return to a ceremonial custom of burying the ‘after birth.’ Dr Elder Mary Courchene narrates in Anishnaabegmowin the meaning of this gesture, to create a way of the good life for the next generation and to give back to the earth what was created in order to give life. Together three women and their kids walk the land and affirm their intergenerational knowledge and active presence in ancestral memories and matrilineal leadership.
If you're interested in inquiring about bringing your work into our catalogue please contact madeline@videopool.org