the quiet rebuild

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November 7, 2013 by narvyspeaks

Two weeks ago, hubs and I had the privilege of attending the opening of an art exhibit: The Quiet Rebuild, by Edmonton artist Alexis Marie Chute.  This exhibition is the culmination of her work as artist-in-residence at Harcourt House, a local gallery and artist run centre.  

Through mutual friends (the world is small, I tell you, and the threads of loss run through the fabric of our social circles to weave us together in unexpected ways), Alexis and I have gotten to know each other a tiny bit during the past year.  First, I devoured her blog last fall when it was recommended to me as a resource for my grieving.  Then she kindly reached out to me in the form of a coffee date shortly after Zeke was born, and we talked about heaven and faith and the way fathers and mothers grieve differently.  Later in the summer, hubs and I responded to her call for models for one aspect of her upcoming art show; we spent an evening in her home studio, experimenting with lighting, poses, and a ‘storm’ until she got a shot that captured our experience perfectly.  

For her photography models, Alexis Marie sought people who have experienced significant loss not only to sit for the camera, but also to share the stories that brought them to their current state – a place, perhaps not of being ‘healed’, but of ‘healing’.  We shared our stories, from the challenges to the surprises to the things we would tell our pre-loss self to our hope for the future.  

And the finished art pieces?  These aren’t just photographs.  They’re big, they’re distinct from each other, they include mementos of our loss, they’re paired with written sketches of our stories.  They can make the viewer cry, with sorrow and hope.  

The Quiet Rebuild will be open for viewing at Harcourt House until November 29th.  More information can be found here and here.  I highly recommend Alexis Marie’s work and encourage those of you in and around Edmonton to check it out.  *Oh, and if you go, tell me which photograph hit you the hardest – I want to know if your reaction was the same as mine.*