Temporary Lifetimes

Dandy Brewing Company
February 1 – February 29

Temporary Lifetimes is a group exhibition featuring large-scale prints by three artists from the National accessArts Centre - Kathy M. Austin, Andre Paradis, and Eve Johnson. Each of these photos reflect the theme of temporality through the perspective of an individual’s arts practice – coalescing decades of an artists’ life into a single moment.

In one photo, Kathy M. Austin lounges as a mermaid, reflecting her own image in a mirror. Austin’s practice centers herself through performance and comedic characterizations, often engaging with mystical creatures or the paranormal. This image was taken with a Lomo 4-Lens Action Sampler 35mm Camera, which takes four consecutive frames milliseconds apart.

Andre Paradis captures time in his photograph of crooked trees. In this photo, Paradis places physical photographs taken in 1999 alongside a fibre sculpture he created in 2023. The objects lay against a tree, contrasting 24 years of Paradis’s arts career with a living arboreal record.

Eve Johnson depicts a fleeting view of her garden taken on a disposable camera. The image shows bright orange marigolds and small pansies, greenery and rocks composed spontaneously as if passing by. Johnson is a multidisciplinary artist who each year dedicates time and energy into fostering a home garden, an aspect of her art practice that isn’t traditionally considered or seen. This photo offers a rare view into Johnson’s ephemeral botanical work.

These images were created using toy cameras with 35mm film at the National accessArts Centre. Artists engaged with analog film practices and used simple cameras to explore art-making imaging techniques. Named for being cheap and simple, toy cameras are sometimes pejoratively thought of as meant for children. Here, artists celebrate the accessibility of toy cameras, and the temporal richness they provide.

The National accessArts Centre, Canada’s oldest and largest disability arts organization.

Open: Tue - Thu: 16:00 - 23:00, Fri - Sat: 12:00 - 23:00 & Sun 12:00 - 20:00
Access: Location is wheelchair accessible.
For more information see accessarts.ca & thedandybrewingcompany.com

Dandy Brewing Company, 2003 11 St SE, Calgary T2G 3G6