Sonny Assu

The paradise Syndrome, Voyage #37

2016

Titled after an episode of Star Trek, The Paradise Syndrome features new work by Sonny Assu. Combining Indigenous content with appropriated images and text from marine chart...

Titled after an episode of Star Trek, The Paradise Syndrome features new work by Sonny Assu. Combining Indigenous content with appropriated images and text from marine chart maps, covers from Choose Your Own Adventure gamebooks, and science fiction television programs, this exhibition continues Assu’s exploration around the intersection of Indigenous Peoples and North American pop culture. In the Star Trek episode The Paradise Syndrome, Captain Kirk suffers from amnesia when he arrives on an alien planet, which is inhabited by a society of people who resemble Indigenous Peoples in North America. Kirk is found by a group of women who believe that he is a god and then take him back to their community. At the end of the episode, he is attacked when they realize he is not a god. Spock and McCoy are transported to his rescue, but in the midst of the conflict, a tribal priestess who Kirk developed a relationship with, is killed. In this exhibition, Assu presents two series of digitally altered prints inspired by fact and fiction. The first series depicts ovoids superimposed onto digital scans of paintings by Emily Carr and A.Y. Jackson, framed by gamebook covers. The prints feature alien forms descending, referencing a Star Trek: Voyager episode titled Tattoo. In this episode, Chakotay meets the Sky Spirits, aliens who visited Earth thousands of years ago. They met nomadic humans who had great respect for the land and other animals. The Sky Spirits were so impressed that they gifted the nomads with an inheritance that would allow them to thrive and protect their world. When the Sky Spirits returned thousands of years later, they found that the weapons and diseases of invaders from other lands had decimated the nomadic ‘Inheritors’. Chakotay’s tattoo was the mark of an Inheritor and signaled to the Sky Spirits that some of the Inheritors had survived. Assu’s gamebook prints expand on this fictional story, incorporating aspects of our colonial history in the Pacific Northwest. This exhibition is a playful investigation of challenging issues. By incorporating nostalgic gamebooks from the 1980s, Assu alludes to the discovery of his Kwawaka’wakw heritage, which has recently led him back to living in his ancestral land. The second series of Assu’s prints in this exhibition depict digital illustrations, inspired by Indigenous copper shield symbols, that are superimposed onto navigational marine maps...

Titled after an episode of Star Trek, The Paradise Syndrome features new work by Sonny Assu. Combining Indigenous content with appropriated images and text from marine chart...

Titled after an episode of Star Trek, The Paradise Syndrome features new work by Sonny Assu. Combining Indigenous content with appropriated images and text from marine chart...

Millefiori / DMG / kandy black is a ten colour archival pigment print on 305gsm, 100% cotton, Hahnemühle fine art paper. The work can be supplied unframed, or framed and ready to ha...

Klint / reDux / kbrk is a ten colour archival pigment print on 305gsm, 100% cotton, Hahnemühle fine art paper. The work can be supplied unframed, or framed and ready to hang. I tend to use fairly minimal glazed and painted tulipwood frames, and set the work ‘straight in’ under the fillets, without a window mount. If you’d like to discuss other framing choices to suit your space please do get in touch. Individually signed and numbered From an edition of 48 prints, plus 4 APs Image size ⋅ 50.8cm H x 66cm W Sheet size ⋅ 65cm H x 80cm W . Le Klint Studio is an inspiration to anyone who loves paper folding, contemporary design, and light. So, of course, I couldn’t resist making a series of origami like geometries for a new set of works on paper in 2015. Le Klint Studio, to my mind, are particularly well known for their folded paper pendant shades, contemporary designs which are as beautiful as they are ubiquitous. The image I made is not an identikit line work, more an homage based around some of the origami like folds they use, with the addition of colour glazes and offset transparencies. I've also added a grid like structure of darkly shaded lines and accents, that brings the geometry to life. The first piece I drew, ACDH (acid house...

interStella / Quad 1 pt1 is a ten colour archival pigment print on 305gsm, 100% cotton, Hahnemühle fine art paper. The work can be supplied unframed, or framed and ready to hang. I ...

Klint / reDux / acdh is a ten colour archival pigment print on 305gsm, 100% cotton, Hahnemühle fine art paper. The work can be supplied unframed, or framed and ready to hang. I tend to use fairly minimal glazed and painted tulipwood frames, and set the work ‘straight in’ under the fillets, without a window mount. If you’d like to discuss other framing choices to suit your space please do get in touch. Individually signed and numbered From an edition of 48 prints, plus 4 APs Image size ⋅ 50.8cm H x 66cm W Sheet size ⋅ 65cm H x 80cm W . Le Klint Studio is an inspiration to anyone who loves paper folding, contemporary design, and light. So, of course, I couldn’t resist making a series of origami like geometries for a new set of works on paper in 2015. Le Klint Studio, to my mind, are particularly well known for their folded paper pendant shades, contemporary designs which are as beautiful as they are ubiquitous. The image I made is not an identikit line work, more an homage based around some of the origami like folds they use, with the addition of colour glazes and offset transparencies. I've also added a grid like structure of darkly shaded lines and accents, that brings the geometry to life. The first piece I drew, ACDH (acid house...