an accumulated life

September 7, 2019 – October 5, 2019

This exhibition holds at its core the exploration of what Lois describes as ‘an accumulated life’. After decades of art-making, the artist reflects on her process both professionally and personally. The show engages issues of identity and the building of identity, it confronts aging, illness, and death. It reflects on personal agency, on holding fast and letting go. Lois beautifully negotiates the path between past and present, exploring her own history as a means of finding resolution in her own narrative. In this exhibition, Lois has turned the lens on mortality, focusing on ephemeral materials – paper, glass, mirror, kinetic sculpture – to dematerialize the object and bring the viewer closer to the meaning than the medium. She has sifted through a lifetime of what we carry, what we hold on to, what we let go of and what, in the end, we keep.

The mirror series began as a memorial project, reminiscent of tombstones. The shape and nature of the sandblasted mirror includes recognizable phrases from songs that read like epitaphs, and a horizon that draws the eye downwards while reflecting the sky. The viewer can see themselves the same way we all recognize our own mortality while standing in a cemetery, but the words aren’t for us. The mirrors reference both family and friends who have passed; through this piece which represents both a tombstone and a window or portal to another place, she honours them.

“It was a rare moment years ago when my brother expressed his inner feelings. I wish I could remember his exact words.  He was speaking about music and how musicians were artists who put “your” experience into words and in doing so they told all our stories. He loved Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison – songs with narratives that celebrated life and lived through pain.”

Sandblasted on to four individual pieces of glass, TIME CHANGED NOT YOU is grounded in humanity as being a thing of perpetual change while playing with that classic breakup line we’ve all used at one time or another. Placed on a shelf positioned in the daylight, sun passes through the glass to project the words in shadow on the wall behind. By virtue of the earth’s rotation and the shifting of the light, the shadowed text moves across the wall while the glass itself remains unchanged.

Throughout her life, Lois kept in her possession a collection of ephemera – cards, letters, notes, and photos – sent to her which she stored diligently. In the digital age, the idea of physical paper or material letters and images has become a novelty rather than a necessity. For this piece, Lois chose to respond to every letter in her possession, giving them the time required to recall memories and relive experiences long since passed. Suspended inside hinged acrylic cases, the right side holds letters, cards, and photos while the left side carries each response (typed by Lois’ sister on her IBM Selectric II Typewriter, for which the artist is extremely grateful).

The act of response out-of-time reconnects Lois to various moments, relationships, events, and conversations in her own history. It creates loops like an emotional time machine, which held space for the artist to slip in and out of time, engaging in who she was then and making peace with the person she is today.

Opening Reception

September 7, 2019
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Artist Links

Included Artworks

IOU 2017
iou, 2017
IOU 2017 context
iou, 2017

artwork detail

IOU 2017 detail
iou, 2017

iou, 2017

lois andison
acrylic, LED, electronics, ed. of 7 18” x 12” x 4.25” photo: Michael Cullen
hold on going 2019
hold on going, 2019
hold on going 2019 detail
hold on going, 2019

artwork detail

hold on going, 2019

lois andison
acrylic, Arduino, LED lights, remote, ed. of 3 8” x 36” x 4.75” photo: Michael Cullen
letter through memory 2019
letter through memory, 2019
letter through memory 2019 detail
letter through memory, 2019

artwork detail

letter through memory 2019 detail
letter through memory, 2019

letter through memory, 2019

lois andison
paper, acrylic, metal, plinth + print 31" x 42" x 21" photo: Michael Cullen
you knew you would be going home 2019
you knew you would be going home, 2019

you knew you would be going home, 2019

lois andison
sandblasted mirror 36" x 24" photo: Michael Cullen
all things must past 2019
all things must past, 2019

all things must past, 2019

lois andison
sandblasted mirror, ed. of 2 36" x 24" photo: Michael Cullen
excused you while you touch the sky 2019
excused you while you touch the sky, 2019

excused you while you touch the sky, 2019

lois andison
sandblasted mirror, metal, ed. of 2 36” x 24” x 5/8” photo: Michael Cullen
long did you run 2019
long did you run, 2019

long did you run, 2019

lois andison
sandblasted mirror, ed. of 2 36" x 24" photo: Michael Cullen
for ever young just going to be 2019
for ever young just going to be, 2019

for ever young just going to be, 2019

lois andison
sandblasted mirror, edition of 2 36" x 24" photo: Michael Cullen
i can see right through you / you can see right through me, 2019
i can see right through you 2019 detail
i can see right through you / you can see right through me, 2019

artwork detail

you can see right through me 2019 detail
i can see right through you / you can see right through me, 2019

i can see right through you / you can see right through me, 2019

lois andison
nested glass tubes, plastic, steel, acrylic (diptych) (unique) 36"/ 23" photo: Michael Cullen
time changed not you 2019
Time Changed Not You, 2019
time changed not you 2019 detail
Time Changed Not You, 2019

artwork detail

time changed not you 2019 detail
Time Changed Not You, 2019

Time Changed Not You, 2019

lois andison
sapphire glass, metal shelves, ed. of 2 24" x 24" - each photo: Michael Cullen
family portrait (my brother, my sister, my self) 2019
family portrait (my brother, my sister, my self), 2019
family portrait (my brother, my sister, my self) detail 2019
family portrait (my brother, my sister, my self), 2019

artwork detail

family portrait (my brother, my sister, my self) detail 2019
family portrait (my brother, my sister, my self), 2019

family portrait (my brother, my sister, my self), 2019

lois andison
sapphire glass, acrylic, metal 31.75” x 11” x 7” photo: Michael Cullen
sit tight 2019
sit tight, 2019
sit tight 2019 detail
sit tight, 2019

artwork detail

sit tight 2019 detail
sit tight, 2019

sit tight, 2019

lois andison
letterpress print, ed. of 20 26” x 12” photo: Michael Cullen
the breakup 2019
the breakup, 2019
the breakup 2019 detail
the breakup, 2019

artwork detail

the breakup 2019 detail
the breakup, 2019

the breakup, 2019

lois andison
mechanical sculpture (unique) + sit tight print 41" x 54" x 8.75" photo: Michael Cullen