Hoping for Transformation

“…the museum implicitly argues that tremendously significant experiences are to be had within its galleries. What are these experiences, exactly?”

excerpt from Art as Therapy by Alain de Botton and John Armstrong

Hoping for Transformation explores the aspiration of the gallery goer to have a transformative experience in the context of the art gallery. A playful exploration of our hopeful internal experience when interacting with art, this work attempts to posit the interaction with the gallery site as the impetus for physical transformation.

“Katie’s work was for me and many of our audience over the week long series, a personal highlight, quite truly seizing the opportunity to engage physically with the space as well as acknowledge the relative proximity of the audience. It was visceral, energetic, playful and charming in turns, movement and gesture utilized to express moments and a range of emotive, physical engagement and dialogue between performer, people and space.”

- Nigel Prince, former Executive Director of the Contemporary Art Gallery

Choreography: Katie Cassady in collaboration with Matisse Maitland

Performer: Matisse Maitland

A site-specific work created for Dance Week at the Contemporary Art Gallery of Vancouver, June 2019.

Photo: Four Eyes Portraits