JOEL MATTHEW WARKENTIN - EXPOSURE EMERGING PHOTOGRAPHERS SHOWCASE

The Nameless Boy who gave his name to Sunday is a collection of photographs and sculptures which focus on a single subject donning or interacting with sculptural objects amidst a blanket of neutral colour. The sculptures interact with the ‘feeling space’ through their materiality, and through their object-ness; the photographs exhibit how these sculptural tools communicate with an other-space, a place of spiritual and unconscious inquiry.

Having been raised in a religious home, I often questioned how our religion spoke of the incorrectness of others, and the righteousness of our practices. An evident, unnatural line was drawn. The Nameless Boy who gave his name to Sunday questions the prescribed distinctions applied by contemporary and ancient religions with a goal of creating a space to discuss common and universal spirituality among diverse religious and spiritual practices.

The Nameless Boy who gave his name to Sunday contemplates what it means to be a spiritual being, both individually and as a community. The quasi-narrative photographs connect to an other-space, weaving a tapestry of relationships built through historical, contemporary and fictitious symbolisms. These strings infer a deeper connection, into a place of the unconscious, a place of emotion, a place of spirituality.

BIOGRAPHY

Joel Matthew Warkentin is a Canadian artist who began learning the importance of materiality in his father’s workshop, and continued his explorations through a sculptural practice.

Warkentin graduated with Honours from the Alberta University of the Arts, formerly Alberta College of Art and Design. During his time there, he directed the IVAN Gallery, assisted the Illingworth Kerr Gallery in the creation of Rodney LaTourelle's Stepped Form, and studied performance under Rebecca Belmore. Warkentin obtained a Graduate Degree in Fine Art from the University of Calgary.

Joel Matthew Warkentin’s practice investigates intrinsic senses within the human experience and the conceptual understanding of spirituality. Joel received the Queen Elizabeth II Research Award to continue his research into religious symbolisms including the Halo, which was presented at the Universities Art Association of Canada conference in 2018, and he has continued researching other symbols, and their importance relevant to understanding a universal spiritual experience.