With Light Comes Dark

I was born on a hot August morning in 1984 with no recollection of previous lives I had once lived.  I had a nice childhood, pre-internet of course.  I rode my bike, played outside, buried deceased bugs with my sister.  We had a bug cemetery in the backyard. Occasionally we would get rides to school in a hearse, never knowing if there was a body in the back.  I used to look at the sky a lot when I was a kid.  I would frequently make wishes upon stars… most of which came true.

I enjoyed art in elementary school but my interest really grew in high school.  Being an artist gave me an excuse to publicly be a weirdo.  In university, I found comfort in the sculpture studio and then eventually my forever home in the printmaking studio.  It took me a long time to get my BFA.  I was quite scattered in my twenties and had two or three jobs at any given time to pay for school.  After graduation I co founded Articulate Ink Printmaking Studios with Em Ironstar, Caitlin Mullan and Amber Hanover.  This is still where I do all of my printing but you won’t find any prints in this exhibition.

I have been making work about the occult for many years now.  It seems like a natural progression from a lifetime of seeking answers.  I try to think about the past, present and future simultaneously to not get stuck in one or the other for too long.  One informs the other and they drift back and forth overlapping each other.  

“With Light Comes Dark” is a concept of balance.  What goes up, must come down.  As above, so below.  It is easy to focus on the light and can be scary to focus on the dark albeit necessary to have any comfort in the inevitable.  Every life ends in death and then rebirth.  I am particularly fascinated with the stage between death and rebirth. How long does a soul stay in limbo before it is embodied again?  How many times can a soul be embodied?  I explore this inbetween stage with an inbetween process.  As a printmaker, typically the woodblock is carved for the purpose of making prints on paper, but in this case the inbetween stage is the final product. 

Every religion has a theory about the afterlife but I am not a religious person. 

May your journey be one of balance and comfort.

Blessed be,

Karli Jessup

@jessups_general_store

jessupsgeneralstore.ca

1811 Quebec Street