extract.gruntarchives.org

home page link
30 photo collage of of ice letters 'RESOURCE' in different settings
Image of two winter scenes, the left image with red ice letters REASON right image trees in frozen water
Image of two winter scenes, the left image with white ice letters SILENCE right image tracks in snow with trees
Image of two winter scenes, the left image of ice blocks, the right image of the artist installing ice letters LEGACY in winter terrain
Image of two winter scenes, the left image of a frozen black dress, the right image ice letters DESIRE on a winter shoreline
An image of ice letters spelling VIEW on a winter shoreline

Nicole Dextras
Signs of Change
April 1 – May 8, 2010

Nicole Dextras produces word sculptures out of ice and positions them in disparate landscapes as a way of making statements about existential and environmental conditions. The words, for example “resource ”, “desire ”, and “silence ”, are monumental exhortations made solid, but because they are made of voluble, fragile ice they also indicate climate change, the passing of seasons, and the impermanence of speech.

Dextras is an environmental artist working in a multitude of media including sculpture, interactive public installation and photography.

Nicole Dextras is a graduate of the Emily Carr University of Art in Vancouver, BC Canada, where she has been a sessional teacher for the past 8 years. She has created art installations in Mongolia, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Dawson City YT and Bellevue WA. Dextras has recently returned from her participation in Land Art Mongolia, where 20 international artists created works in the Gobi Desert. In 2010 she exhibited photographs and created outdoor ephemeral installations for her Signs of Change, exhibit at grunt gallery in Vancouver, BC. During 2010 Olympics, Dextras presented The False Creek Bride, a storytelling event based on sustainable practices for the Winterruption Festival, Granville Island, Vancouver, BC. In 2009 she exhibited at the Richard Levy Gallery in Albuquerque New Mexico as part of the city-wide Land Art Festival, at the Wall Space Gallery in Seattle and at the Port Angeles WA, Outdoor Art Park. In 2008, she was artist in residence at the VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver and at the I-Park Artist Enclave in Connecticut. She has been awarded both Canada Council and BC Arts Council grants and her work has been published in numerous publications such as ELLE Canada magazine and My Green City, published by Gestalten, Berlin.

Nicole Dextras - Artist Site