Chakras in the Dark - burnt wood, textiles, horse hair, sheep wool, feathers, fur, beads - 7 @ approx 5 ft each - Ministry of Casual Living, Victoria, BC 2014

Cradle cord - burnt wooden cradle, hemp rope, burnt wood objects - Ministry of Casual Living, Victoria - 12 ft high x 6 ft base circumference - 2014

"Perhaps it's true that things can change in a day. That a few dozen hours can affect the outcome of whole lifetimes. And that when they do, those few dozen hours, like the salvaged remains of a burned house---the charred clock, the singed photograph, the scorched furniture---must be resurrected from the ruins and examined. Preserved. Accounted for. Little events, ordinary things, smashed and reconstituted. Imbued with new meaning. Suddenly they become the bleached bones of a story." ― Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things

installation – Access Gallery, 2013

found burnt wood, horse hair - 2 x 2.5 ft

found burnt wood, bone, resin - each 16 in high x 24 in circumference

studio installation – Banff Centre for Arts, 2011

paper, charcoal, ash, collage, stick, clamps, light - 2 ft wide x 8 ft long

vintage graph paper, sage ash and charcoal - 22 x 60 in

detail

In the Shadow of our own Dust

Video: This is the result of an attemp to capture/document ritual. Produced during a Thematic Banff Centre Residency (Something in the Water; Return of the backwash 2011).

Erupture - charcoal, ash, collage - 22 x 30 in - 2012

Spun out - charcoal, ash, collage - 22 x 30 in

Snake moon - charcoal, ash, collage - 22 x 30 in - 2014

detail

Shrapnel nest - charcoal, ash, collage, ink - 5.5 x 8.5 in - 2014

Ensconced - charcoal, ash, collage, ink - 5.5 x 8.5 in - 2014

Hidden code - charcoal, ash, collage, ink - 5.5 x 8.5 in - 2014

HAND JIVE

March 2020

chinese ink, collage

25 x 60 inches

HAND JIVE (detail)

March 2020

chinese ink, collage

25 x 60 inches

Fallout

A series of geologically inspired ceramic forms made from discarded blocks of clay (various types). I dropped and smashed the dried blocks then took direction from the natural breaks and cracks. Only 4 raku glazes were used. Electric firing. Created during Thematic Banff Centre for the Arts Residency 2014 (The Universe and Other Systems).

Fourth Nature 2010 and 2012

arches details: textiles, lace, bones, wood, rhinestones, spray paint – Yukon Arts Centre, 2010

installation view – arches and stalactites

stalactite detail: spray foam, broken china cups, wild trapped fur - 5 to 8 ft high x 2 to 3 ft circumference each

stalagmite: spray foam, broken china cups, wild trapped fur - 11 in high x 16 in circumference

installation view – Galerie Sans Nom, 2012

antler cluster: antler, paint, pearls, textiles, spray foam, jewelry, pins - 14 ft high

NSCAD Port Loggia Gallery, 2010

Yukon Arts Centre, 2010

arches - Confederation Centre Art Gallery, 2011 - 1.5 x 24 ft each

Impossible Columns - installation view- Yukon Arts Centre 2010

I made a series of collages and sculptures based on Albrecht Durer's drawings Impossible Columns – Albrecht Durer - pen, brown ink, watercolour – 11.65 x 6.77 in - 1515

ceramic, glass, metal, wood, porcelain, caulking – Yukon Arts Centre and NSCAD Port Loggia, 2010 - approx 3 feet high each

I photographed hundreds of objects from my Aunt and Uncles thrift store in the South of France. Each object in these collages are from a 4x6 photograph.

photo collage on black archival paper - 22 x 32 in

Congregations – 2008 to 2010. A series of collages featuring animals cut from vintage story, school, wildlife, and science text books. This collage is titled Birds n Bees - 22 x 30 in

detail

Transmission Cloud - 22 x 30 in

Basket Knot - 12 x 17 in

Deadwood Parliament - 22 x 30 in

Ladder Tower - 22 x 30 in

Scale Parade - 24 x 35 in

Sink Bale - 22 x 30 in

Sink Bale – detail

Treasure chest murder - 22 x 30 in

Hat Warren - 22 x 30 in

Hat Warren – detail

Construction Colony - 13 x 18 in

Kettle Rookery - 12 x 17 in

Congregations – Odd Gallery, Dawson City, YT – 2008

Lost Ships Found
found wood, paint, various textiles, nails - each approx 9 to 15 inches (high and wide) - Bielsko-Biala BWA, Poland 2015

Cold Covered Bones - Dawson City, Yukon - 2006

"...Salez made these blanket “interventions” after exploring this industrial area on Dawson City’s outskirts during her winter walks. Intent on nurturing these wounded vestiges of past gold-mining activity, the artist carefully draped the abandoned equipment in the patterned blankets. Her site-specific installations cunningly juxtapose laborious old machines with a colourful collection of craft. Whereas this unexpected revival suggests the gendering of the mining relics, one may also consider the general rehabilitation or dramatic mourning of a systematically abused landscape." Diane Pellicone

OUR Nation was an attempt to declare a micro nation. The 'founders' (collaborates Valerie Salez, Kara Uzelman and Jesse Mitchell) occupied a large fenced in yard, built structures, established a government, distributed passports, created currency, to name a few functions. Summer 2009 within Dawson City, Yukon.