Lea Bucknell is a Kamloops-based artist and educator who works across media. She has a history of showing in unconventional exhibition spaces and creating site-specific projects. She has participated in multiple residency projects such as the Storefront Residencies for Social Innovation and Homework with Broken City Lab in Windsor, ON; Forest City Garden Project with the McIntosh Gallery in London, ON; Wreck City: an epilogue for 809 in Calgary, AB; and Graphite Mountain, a residency project hosted by Calgary Public Library and Stride Gallery in Calgary, AB. Lea received her MFA from Western University and has been the recipient of grants from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the BC Arts Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the Province of Ontario.
BUCKNELL
Preparatory sketch for False Front, front view, 2015.
Preparatory sketch for False Front, 3/4 view, 2015.
Preparatory sketch for False Front, side (left) view, 2015.
Preparatory sketches for False Front, 2015.
Graphite Mountain, Installation view and interior, Calgary Alberta, 2013
Size: 16’ x 10’ x 7’
Materials: wood
This sculpture combines notions of picturesque landscapes with retreat spaces. The result humourously rests somewhere between sculpture and architecture, mountain and hut. From September 16th to October 31st I used Graphite Mountain as a makeshift studio space within the Calgary Public Library and hosted a series of workshops and events.
Graphite Mountain, Installation view and interior, Calgary Alberta, 2013
Size: 16’ x 10’ x 7’
Materials: wood
This sculpture combines notions of picturesque landscapes with retreat spaces. The result humourously rests somewhere between sculpture and architecture, mountain and hut. From September 16th to October 31st I used Graphite Mountain as a makeshift studio space within the Calgary Public Library and hosted a series of workshops and events.
Graphite Mountain, Installation view and interior, Calgary Alberta, 2013
Size: 16’ x 10’ x 7’
Materials: wood
This sculpture combines notions of picturesque landscapes with retreat spaces. The result humourously rests somewhere between sculpture and architecture, mountain and hut. From September 16th to October 31st I used Graphite Mountain as a makeshift studio space within the Calgary Public Library and hosted a series of workshops and events.
Camera Obscura (as part of Wreck City: Epilogue for 809), Calgary, AB, 2013
Size: 12’ X 7’ X 8.25”
Materials: corrugated plastic sheets, lens, reclaimed fence boards, paint
A room-sized camera obscura constructed from materials collected onsite. Created to provide Sunnyside residents and other community members with the opportunity to reflect upon the setting and landscape of their neighborhood before it goes through a series of changes in the course of redevelopment.
Camera Obscura (as part of Wreck City: Epilogue for 809), Calgary, AB, 2013
Size: 12’ X 7’ X 8.25”
Materials: corrugated plastic sheets, lens, reclaimed fence boards, paint
A room-sized camera obscura constructed from materials collected onsite. Created to provide Sunnyside residents and other community members with the opportunity to reflect upon the setting and landscape of their neighborhood before it goes through a series of changes in the course of redevelopment.
Camera Obscura (as part of Wreck City: Epilogue for 809), Calgary, AB, 2013
Size: 12’ X 7’ X 8.25”
Materials: corrugated plastic sheets, lens, reclaimed fence boards, paint
A room-sized camera obscura constructed from materials collected onsite. Created to provide Sunnyside residents and other community members with the opportunity to reflect upon the setting and landscape of their neighborhood before it goes through a series of changes in the course of redevelopment.
Personal Planetarium, Installation view, London, Ontario, 2011
Size: 10’6” x 6’ x 5’
Materials: plaster, fabric and wood
This landscape intervention was created in response to the light pollution and resultant lack of visible stars in South Western Ontario. Set up underneath a source of light, the absurd white form effectively creates the illusion of stars within it’s interior because of the tiny holes that perforate the plaster. With only their head and shoulders within the form, the viewer’s eyes continue to adjust the longer they stay in the darkness of the plaster form. Soon they are able to make out details of the interior space and the mechanics of the illusion. For a few split seconds a sense of awe is achieved by harnessing the light from a source that contributes to the very problem of light pollution.
Personal Planetarium, Installation view, London, Ontario, 2011
Size: 10’6” x 6’ x 5’
Materials: plaster, fabric and wood
This landscape intervention was created in response to the light pollution and resultant lack of visible stars in South Western Ontario. Set up underneath a source of light, the absurd white form effectively creates the illusion of stars within it’s interior because of the tiny holes that perforate the plaster. With only their head and shoulders within the form, the viewer’s eyes continue to adjust the longer they stay in the darkness of the plaster form. Soon they are able to make out details of the interior space and the mechanics of the illusion. For a few split seconds a sense of awe is achieved by harnessing the light from a source that contributes to the very problem of light pollution.
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The Camera Obscura Project brings together an international group of artists and other researchers interested in cameras obscura, related optical phenomenon and the meeting places of: art and science, cultural and wilderness settings, learning and play. With funding from The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada the Project is based at Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, B.C.