Theoren Johannessen
Thu. July 27th 2023 - Sat. August 19th 2023 Viewings by appointment.
Lucky To Be Held Theoren Johannessen
By Stella Daisy McCaig
asking for more forever
Marcescent memory
messy, untethered, lost in the wind, fully malleable memory
disorganized memory, taken down, ripped apart, build back up, torn through, stolen from, reconstructed memory
gentle as it goes memory
gentle as we go memory
welcome to the past where it pretends to be the truth you asked for memory
unreliable memory
nothing memory
whispered through your mouth to mine memory
a so simple, a so easy and
painless, a so little effort (it may even make you feel light for a fraction of a moment) memory
in order to remember I will make a shrine memory:
saliva-soaked lonely pile of shrine made clean by water
ledge of dead dog shrine
(the portrait barely clinging to the ancient powdery drywall – eyes bright beacons of knowing nothing)
front pocket shrine of soft crinkled gum wrapper and a single dime
clear perfect blue shrine of sky
unmade bed of body (shrine)
pretty cracks through pulsing pavement wet with yesterday’s mess (shrine)
this place is filled with the temporary comfortable fabricated sacred – these things watched the madness ooze, they enjoyed the venerable gush – and now witness the slow crumbling through time– and oh look – as they melt away we see all they’ve been holding that were forgot –
becoming memory and so on and becoming memory and so on -
eat it up, bite down and ‘snap’ it’s all yours now:
loved by rust, and dust adored
two birds fly through clear perfect blue, bleached netting hold sparkle dew of morning, sequins permeate foot, hair collected for a sparrow’s nest of little ones, sunshine and time helped too, end the already ending world a little faster I mean, and the wallpaper doesn’t like the wall that much anymore after so many years, and drought takes hold, and those trees look thirsty – and and and
put lead in the bottom of the flower vase so they live forever.
--
Theoren Johannessen is an artist working with installation, integrating sculpture and lens-based media. They live and work on the traditional and unceded territory of the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ peoples. Theoren is interested in the objects we collect and adorn ourselves with and how they can personify queerness. They explore how combining objects and imagery can form or shift identities. They have had their work published by TZVETNIK.com and they recently participated in the Bonnie McComb Kreye Residency.
By Stella Daisy McCaig
asking for more forever
Marcescent memory
messy, untethered, lost in the wind, fully malleable memory
disorganized memory, taken down, ripped apart, build back up, torn through, stolen from, reconstructed memory
gentle as it goes memory
gentle as we go memory
welcome to the past where it pretends to be the truth you asked for memory
unreliable memory
nothing memory
whispered through your mouth to mine memory
a so simple, a so easy and
painless, a so little effort (it may even make you feel light for a fraction of a moment) memory
in order to remember I will make a shrine memory:
saliva-soaked lonely pile of shrine made clean by water
ledge of dead dog shrine
(the portrait barely clinging to the ancient powdery drywall – eyes bright beacons of knowing nothing)
front pocket shrine of soft crinkled gum wrapper and a single dime
clear perfect blue shrine of sky
unmade bed of body (shrine)
pretty cracks through pulsing pavement wet with yesterday’s mess (shrine)
this place is filled with the temporary comfortable fabricated sacred – these things watched the madness ooze, they enjoyed the venerable gush – and now witness the slow crumbling through time– and oh look – as they melt away we see all they’ve been holding that were forgot –
becoming memory and so on and becoming memory and so on -
eat it up, bite down and ‘snap’ it’s all yours now:
loved by rust, and dust adored
two birds fly through clear perfect blue, bleached netting hold sparkle dew of morning, sequins permeate foot, hair collected for a sparrow’s nest of little ones, sunshine and time helped too, end the already ending world a little faster I mean, and the wallpaper doesn’t like the wall that much anymore after so many years, and drought takes hold, and those trees look thirsty – and and and
put lead in the bottom of the flower vase so they live forever.
--
Theoren Johannessen is an artist working with installation, integrating sculpture and lens-based media. They live and work on the traditional and unceded territory of the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ peoples. Theoren is interested in the objects we collect and adorn ourselves with and how they can personify queerness. They explore how combining objects and imagery can form or shift identities. They have had their work published by TZVETNIK.com and they recently participated in the Bonnie McComb Kreye Residency.