Owen Eric Wood Video Artist

Artist Statement

Waiting

What are we when stripped of our bodies and social identities? Where are we when dislodged from this physical world? Is the essence of who we are hidden below the surface, in qualities that are not so easily defined?

The ephemeral qualities of time-based art forms, like video and performance, symbolize the fragility of human mortality. I use repeated actions and a unique process of re-projection to create video self-portraits that are ever changing or in flux rather than solid or stable. My image comes and goes, fading in and out of itself. I am a character set in an undefined location where narrative shifts from concrete storylines to ethereal possibilities.

By projecting video onto three-dimensional surfaces of the same content and composition, I create a hologram-like effect that disrupts the viewer’s ability to distinguish digital images from actual form. The temporal and spatial collisions that occur represent the often-contradictory relationship between our physical existence and our mental perception.

Biography

Owen Eric Wood (b. Toronto, Canada) has established a signature style through his video portraits. Challenging concepts of identity whereby individuals must constantly reinvent or appropriate their own image, the artist presents contemporary social issues in the context of personal narratives and existential themes. His videos, installations and performances have showcased at more than 100 galleries and festivals in 30 countries. He has won a number of awards, including the Vision Art Prize at the Visionaria International Video Festival (Italy), Best Video at the Avanca Film Festival (Portugal), Third Prize at the International Festival of Video Art (Argentina), and honorable mentions at Videoformes (France) and the Japan Media Arts Festival. He holds a B.F.A. from Concordia University and an M.F.A. from the University of Windsor. Nine of his videos are distributed by Videographe.

Videography

Waiting (2013), To Avoid Fading (2013), This Man (2012), Assemble I and II (2012), Return (2011), Parallel (2009), Holobomo (2009), Made Up (2008), The Clothes Make the Man (2008), Lost (2007), Quality Time with the Family (2007), Momentum: a video series in four movements (2007), Self Portrait (2004)

Artist C.V.

Dream of Sleeping

Sit Still

Mirror

Waiting

To Avoid Fading

Every Day

Holobomo

Quality Time with the Family

Learn to Smile, Learn to Laugh,
Learn to Be Happy

Chicken Pox Scar

Self Portrait

Parallel

The Clothes Make the Man

Eric and Eric

Portrait of the Artist with his Family

Made Up

Subway Riders Don't Look Up

Return

Education

Master's of Fine Arts (M.F.A.), Studio Arts, University of Windsor (Windsor, Canada)
Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), Studio Arts, Concordia University (Montreal, Canada)

Awards and Grants

2013 Honorable Mention for Waiting, Festival Internacional de Videoarte (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
2013 SSHRC Storytellers Challenge winner (Canada)
2012 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Grant (Canada)
2012 Videoholica Special Selection for Assemble I and II (Varna, Bulgaria)
2011 Third Prize for Parallel, Festival Internacional de Videoarte (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
2011 Videoholica Special Selection for Holobomo (Varna, Bulgaria)
2010 Vision Art Prize for Parallel, Visionaria International Video Festival (Piombino, Italy)
2010 Best Video Award for Holobomo, Avanca Film Festival (Avanca, Portugal)
2010 Honorable Mention for Holobomo, Videoformes (Clermont-Ferrand, France)
2010 Travel Grant, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec (Canada)
2010 Videoholica Special Selection for Made Up (Varna, Bulgaria)
2009 Jury Mention for Parallel, Japan Media Arts Festival (Tokyo, Japan)
2009 Travel Grant, Canada Council for the Arts (Canada)
2009 Best Urban Diversity Award for The Clothes Make the Man, Toronto Urban Film Festival (Toronto, Canada)

Screenings

2013

Videoformes (Clermont-Ferrand, France)
CeC Carnival of eCreativity - CologneOFF India II (Sattal, India)
Cologne Art & Moving Images Awards - Georgia (Tbilisi, Georgia)
Festival Internacional de Videoart de Camagüey (Camagüey City, Cuba)
Identité, Espace Cercle Carré (Montreal, Canada)
Master Control, Studio A, University of Windsor (Windsor, ON, Canada)

2012

Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival (Kassel, Germany)
Alone Together (Surrey, B.C., Canada)
Close Up Vallarta Int’l Festival of Video Creation (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico)
Videoholica International Video Art Festival (Varna, Bulgaria)
CologneOFF Hungary @ BuSho Budapest International Shortfilm Festival (Budapest, Hungary)
CologneOFF Mexico @ Ex Teresa Arte Actual (Mexico City, Mexico)
CologneOFF Cambodia (Phnom Penh, Cambodia)
FIVA Video Art Festival (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Windsor International Film Festival (Windsor, ON, Canada)
FASE 4: Encuentro de Arte y Tecnología (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Kaunas mene. Kalbėjimasis Festival (Kaunas, Lithuania)
Vidéographe mis à nu (Montreal, Canada)
Festival Cinemarges (Bordeaux, France)
Toronto Urban Film Festival (Toronto, Canada)
Monographic Show of Media Art, Int’l Festival of the Image (Manizales, Colombia)
ANEMIC Independent Film and New Media Art Festival (Prague, Czech Republic)
Soiree Video, Espace Cercle Carre (Montreal, Canada)

2011

Oodaaq Festival, Café des bricoles (Rennes, France)
Videoholica Special Selection 2010, [.BOX] Videoart Project Space (Milan, Italy)
Trouble #7: Metamorphoses (Brussels, Belgium)
Magmart Festival (Naples, Italy)
Videoformes (Clermont-Ferrand, France
REGARD – Saguenay International Short Film Festival (Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada)
Les Rendez-Vous du Cinema Quebecois (Montreal, Canada)
Espressioni Performing Arts Film Festival (Milan, Italy)
Goteborg International Film Festival (Goteborg, Sweden)

2010

Stuttgart Filmwinter Festival for Expanded Media, Kino Metropol (Stuttgart, Germany)
Videoformes, Petit Velo (Clermont-Ferrand, France)
LOOP Festival - The Platform for VideoArt, Lounge Club MauMau (Barcelona, Spain)
INVIDEO (Milan, Italy)
Avanca Film Festival (Avanca, Portugal)
Japan Media Arts Festival, National Art Center (Tokyo, Japan)
Videoholica International Video Art Festival (Varna, Bulgaria)
Media Forum, Moscow International Film Festival (Moscow, Russia)
Festival International du Film sur l'Art, J.A. De Seve Cinema (Montreal, Canada)
Hiroshima International Animation Festival, Aster Plaza (Hiroshima, Japan)
Waterpieces International Contemporary and Video Art Festival (Riga, Latvia)
fLEXiff - First and the Last Experimental International Film Festival (Sydney, Australia)
Osaka Media Arts Forum, CCA ACDC Gallery (Osaka, Japan)
Festival Internacional Del Cine Pobre Humberto Solas (Havana, Cuba)
International Videofestival Bochum, Kulturcafe (Bochum, Germany)
Orebro International Videoart Festival (Orebro, Sweden)
Montreal Underground Film Festival, Friperie Potetr (Montreal, Canada)
Queer City Cinema, Neutral Ground Gallery (Regina, Canada)
Vues d'en face, Cinematheque de Grenoble (Grenoble, France)
Inside Out GLBT Film and Video Festival, Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto, Canada)
Open Cinema Int'l Short & Animation Film Festival (Saint-Petersburg, Russia)
Portobello Film Festival (London, U.K.)
Japan Media Arts Festival in Kyoto, Kyoto Art Center Auditorium (Kyoto, Japan)
Festival International Montreal en Arts (Montreal, Canada)
Basement Media Festival, Community Builder’s Co-op (Sommerville, MA, U.S.A.)
Malmo Sommarscen, Slottstradgarden (Malmo, Sweden)
Festival Mix di Cinema Gaylesbico & Queer Culture, Teatro Strehler (Milan, Italy)
Int'l Day of Video Art, Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center (Havana, Cuba)
Art Go Round, Toyama Prefecture (Toyama, Japan)
Toronto Alternative Arts and Fashion Week, Studio City (Toronto, Canada)
Rendez-Vous du Cinema Quebecois, Cinematheque Quebecois (Montreal, Canada)
Reelout Queer Film and Video Festival, Ellis Auditorium (Kingston, Canada)

2009

Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival (Kassel, Germany)
Festival du Nouveau Cinema, Cinema Parallele (Montreal, Canada)
European Media Art Festival, Lagerhalle Großer Saal (Osnabrueck, Germany)
CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival, Cumberland Cinemas (Toronto)
International Video Art Festival Camaguey (Camaguey, Cuba)
Mix New York Queer Experimental Film Festival (New York City, U.S.A.)
Cheries-Cheris GLT Film Festival of Paris, Forum des Halles (Paris, France)
Festival International du Film sur l'Art, Goethe-Institute (Montreal, Canada)
Torino International GLBT Film Festival, Ambrosio Cinecafé (Torino, Italy)
Image+Nation, J.A. de Seve Cinema (Montreal, Canada)
Toronto Urban Film Festival (Toronto, Canada)
QueerFilmFest Rostock, Peter-Weiss-Haus (Rostock, Germany)
Entzaubert Radical Non-Commercial Queer Film Festival (Berlin, Germany)
Montreal Underground Film Festival, Eastern Bloc (Montreal, Canada)
Rendez-Vous du Cinema Quebecois, National Film Board (Montreal, Canada)

2008

Canariasmediafest, Espacio Digital (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain)
Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival (Kassel, Germany)
Mix Brazil Cinema and Video Festival of Sexual Diversity (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Outsiders Liverpool LGBT Film Festival, FACT Cinema (Liverpool, U.K.)
Rendez-Vous du Cinema Quebecois, Cinematheque Quebecois (Montreal, Canada)
Queer City Cinema, Royal Canadian Legion (Regina, Canada)
Backup Festival, Deutsches Nationaltheater (Weimar, Germany)
Inside Out GLBT Film and Video Festival, Isabel Bader Theatre (Toronto, Canada)
Nuit Blanche, Ex-Centris (Montreal, Canada)
Montreal Underground Film Festival, Main Hall (Montreal, Canada)

Exhibitions and Performances