Alumna Jill Ho-You’s (’12 MFA) Retrograde at SNAP Gallery runs until October 8th.
Can you tell me a bit about the overall theme of the Retrograde?
Retrograde explores the fear and anxiety surrounding the possibility of environmental and societal collapse. It imagines what the Earth might look like after the climax of the Anthropocene if the predictions of catastrophic climate change occur.
You’ve mentioned before, that you were inspired by images of decaying Detroit. Can you tell me what about those images first captured your interest or inspired you?
The urban degeneration I saw in Detroit is striking because it’s a very familiar landscape that has turned unfamiliar and strange, so that contrast is interesting but also uncanny and uncomfortable. It is also important to remember that the economic collapse and resulting changes that happened there could happen anywhere, and that despite the hardships the city is experiencing, there is still a strength and resiliency there.
Can you describe what you love most about the art of printmaking?
What I love most about printmaking is also what I find the most challenging. Because printmaking is so process-based, there are an infinite number of ways you can make mistakes. For me there is something really satisfying when I can convince the media to do what I want, even when it takes several attempts.
Do you have any other shows coming up after Retrograde?
I will have work in a group show along with Sean Caulfield at dc3 Art Projects in Edmonton in January 2017.
Do you have a website, or anywhere people can checkout to find out more about your art?
My website is jillhoyou.com
More on the exhibition at SNAP Gallery
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