A new solo exhibition at the Kelowna Art Gallery seems especially timely for our rapidly growing city.
Vancouver-based artist Germaine Koh’s show titled Home Made Home comprises two “social sculptures” through which she looks at the notion of the micro home.
One piece is the façade of a small house built in the lofty alcove looking down into the gallery’s interior hallway. It looks as though there could be someone living in it – the glow of a lamp can be seen through the single front-facing window.
The other sculpture is a wooden construction titled Core that reads as a modular living unit.
One end of it holds a kitchen, the other a bedroom, with the centre section having washroom facilities. It is a prototype for a suite of recombinant furniture and fixtures. One aim of Home Made Home, her larger project, is to get people imagining other modes of living/housing.
Germaine Koh was born in Georgetown, Malaysia. She has been a Canadian citizen since 1976.
She has exhibited widely, both in Canada and internationally. Koh has a BFA from the University of Ottawa (1989) a BA in the theory and history of art (University of Ottawa) and an MFA from Hunter College, New York from 1993. In 2010 she was awarded the VIVA award from the Jack and Doris Shadbolt Foundation in Vancouver.
Germaine Koh: Home Made Home will be on view until Feb.12, 2017.
The Kelowna Art Gallery is located at 1315 Water Street in downtown Kelowna.