This summer the Bonne Bay Marine Station welcomed its 2nd Artist in Residence, Virginia Mitford. Virginia was resident at the station from July 3rd-26th.

The Artist in Residence program provides financial support for a recent graduate of Grenfell Campus, Memorial University and is intended to allow the graduate time and support to work on his/her portfolio while also engaging with members of the local community in Norris Point. Funding is competitive and is for a three-week internship at the station. Plans are to continue the program annually. In addition, Grenfell is committed to expanding support for these internships to include recent graduates from all four divisions at the campus, Arts, Fine Arts, Science and Social Science.

ARTIST PROFILE

I was raised on a remote trapline in the central Yukon, with my family and a team of sled dogs. I grew up dog mushing and drawing, determined that one day I would become either an artist or a veterinarian. My family experienced a flood when I was ten years old, which left us stranded on the roof of our cabin for three days. At that time I came to the realization that life is not nearly as stable as I had believed. Once the water had gone down, I spent the next week carefully peeling apart my drawings and saving the associated memories. Eventually I decided on a whim to apply to the visual arts program at Grenfell, and graduated April 2013 with a BFA.

I focus on analog photography and printmaking, but also work with video, drawing and painting. My art practice uses physical processes to explore the idea that change is the undercurrent of reality. Constant flux ultimately erodes the stability of memory and the certainty of the present. I feel that art strives to create a sense of permanence in the face of change while paradoxically testifying to the relentless passage of time. However, most importantly art-making can act as a tool to a new understanding of reality and its inherent precariousness.

www.virginiamitfordvisualarts.com