HRM's Contemporary Visual Art Award Shortlist Exhibition

Artists Aaron Weldon, Kyle Monchuk, David Harper, Jessica Hein and Sara Hartland-Rowe have their work hanging at the Nova Scotia Archives right now as the five shortlisted artists for HRM's second annual Contemporary Visual Art Award. "I feel ecstatic---it's a good opportunity to get both my name out there and some more exhibition experience," says Monchuk, who has three pieces in the exhibition ("Architectural Drafting," pictured above). Monchuk carves and folds images from books to create his art, and two of his exhibited pieces are derived from architecture books. "What I've done is cut out a frame about an inch away from the inside of the book, and starting at the first image I cut away what I want as an image---in this case, an entranceway with columns to a building," Monchuk explains. "Digging down through the layers of the book, to see what fits the actual parameters of the frame." You can see for yourself how Monchuk reconstructs diagrams from architecture books and a Lincoln Electric welding manual until June 29, along with the stunning pieces by Weldon, Harper, Hein and Hartland-Rowe. –Holly Gordon