biography

     Owen Eric Wood
     (b. 1977 Toronto, Canada)


     With his art works having already appeared in more than 40 international festivals and exhibitions, Owen Eric Wood has established a signature style through his video portraits. Lost (2007), The Clothes Make the Man (2008), Made Up (2008), Holobomo (2009) et Parallel (2009), the artist's five latest video works, have appeared at a wide range of festivals, finding a place among both experimental new media works as well as more traditional narrative films.

     His work has been showcased in 13 countries, most notably at le Festival du Nouveau Cinéma (Montreal, Canada), the Stuttgart Filmwinter Festival for Expanded Media (Stuttgart, Germany), the FILE Electronic Language International Festival (Sao Paulo, Brazil), the Japan Media Arts Festival (Tokyo, Japan), and Videoformes (Clermont-Ferrand, France), where his video Holobomo received a special jury mention.

     The performative dimension plays a vital role in a great number of his videos. The artist himself is present in his work in order to challenge concepts of identity whereby individuals must constantly reinvent or appropriate their own image. The artist dismantles the wheels of such processes while blurring the line between fiction and reality.

     Performance and self portraiture are at the heart of the Owen Eric Wood's art practice. As an interdisciplinary artist, he incorporates drawing, sculpture, photography and installation in his videos to reflect existential themes.

     In 2009, Owen Eric Wood was the featured artist at the Visionaria International Video Festival (Piombino, Italy), invited to present an exhibition of Quality Time With the Family (2007), an installation that merges performance and video. In March 2010, he presented his first live performance of Parallel (2010) as part of an artist residency at Ateliers Jean-Brilliant (Montreal, Canada).


      artist statement


     I use motion pictures to tell stories, to transform images, to show different perspectives of the subject matter I am presenting. Self portraiture serves as a method to maintain the personal aspect of my video work; it's a reminder that I am confronting particular social or philosophical issues as they directly affect my life. I am not an objective outside observer, but a participant in the subject matter I comment on.


     I have a deep desire to be recognized, to be seen, to have my physical presence acknowledged. I feel a loss of the individual, a lacking in human bonds, and this disconnection somehow affects my relationship with time. Time-based media arts, therefore, are an expression of how precious tangible experiences are through an art discipline that is virtually immaterial, existing only as light.


     Through my interdisciplinary art practice, I merge video with the physical texture of sculpture by projecting an image onto three-dimensional form of the same composition. For example, the video image of my face will fall upon a mould of my face, creating a haunting hologram effect. The two art forms come together in a vain attempt to reconstruct reality, but in so doing only emphasize their inadequacies in imitating life. I apply a similar technique by placing myself within a projected video, causing a contrast between recorded memories and live performance.


     My interest in translating concept through multiple media extends to the interplay of black-and-white photography with photorealistic pencil drawing. By depicting myself in different disciplines and then placing these images side by side, they compete with each other for the viewer's attention and approval. However, like the relationships between video projection and sculpture, the comparison with photography and drawing only outlines that both are merely a subjective representation of reality. On the other hand, their cooperation in building illusions despite their limitations resonates a fragility that is human.