Artists Aaron Weldon, Kyle Monchuk, David Harper, Jessica Hein and Sara Hartland-Rowe have their work hanging at the Nova Scotia Archives right now as the five shortlisted artists for HRM's second annual Contemporary Visual Art Award. "I feel ecstatic---it's a good opportunity to get both my name out there and some more exhibition experience," says Monchuk, who has three pieces in the exhibition ("Architectural Drafting," pictured above). Monchuk carves and folds images from books to create his art, and two of his exhibited pieces are derived from architecture books. "What I've done is cut out a frame about an inch away from the inside of the book, and starting at the first image I cut away what I want as an image---in this case, an entranceway with columns to a building," Monchuk explains. "Digging down through the layers of the book, to see what fits the actual parameters of the frame." You can see for yourself how Monchuk reconstructs diagrams from architecture books and a Lincoln Electric welding manual until July 29, along with the stunning pieces by Weldon, Harper, Hein and Hartland-Rowe.

Things of Desire - Micheal Landry

Article in reference to the artist and show @ Seeds Gallery

Things of Desire Canada’s Alternative Art Weekly ,Filed in Volume 2 Number 14: Sep 24-30 2009

http://thingsofdesire.ca/2009/09/24/kyle-monchuk-halifax/

 By Mike Landry

Kyle Monchuk's "Architectural Drawing." 2009

If the medium is the message, then Kyle Monchuk certainly has been listening.

The Halifax-based sculptor’s most recent work involves cutting up books so that only a series of images remain framed by the border of the cover. The resulting layered images are visually impressive, but Monchuk’s work is about the books not the content.

“Books give structure to the world. The same way a lot of us look at the world is the same that we’ve incorporated it from a book. Like, by going through an anatomy book we’ve structured our thought about the body,” says Monchuk. “[Books have] created a structure for us to follow and a way for us to appropriate our information that already comes pre-fabricated. My work has developed out of the physical structure of the book.”

Monchuk was inspired to start sculpting books after thinking about where art comes from, and his own relationship to it. He realized the majority of his artistic influences and experiences were derived from books. He figured, “if art is the subject of books, why not make books the subject of art?”

Working with paper wasn’t anything new for Monchuk either. Inspired by a Saul Williams audio poem (”I drew a blank and I think it may be the best thing I’ve ever drawn”), he started exploring what he sees as “the raw state of art.” He relished in the infinite possibilities of a blank sheet, and was fascinated by the power of a line or image to destroy this.

He would tear out images from books, tack them to his wall and draw them as a still-life focusing on the paper rather than the image.

Now, he reads his books with a scalpel, exacto knife, Japanese wood carving tools or the occasional Dremel in hand. Flipping through image-heavy architecture, engineering and art books, Monchuk looks for a starting image and carves around that until he reaches another image or the back of the book.

“Going through that process each time is always a surprise. You never know what’s going to line up. Sometimes things line up absolutely and you can’t believe it. It’s like a dada poem that actually makes sense.”

For future works, Monchuk is looking to bring an even more sculptural element into the work. He finds his current pieces still too image-based, and wants to start sculpting the book covers.

“I never understood why people were so precious of books, I mean there’s like millions of these books out there and you can easily find them online. So I really don’t find anything wrong in that sense. The only qualms I have is thinking about what the author might think, but they might appreciate the fact something new is coming out of the book.”

Kyle Monchuk’s sculptures will be on display from Tue September 29 - Sat October 10 at Seeds Gallery in Halifax.