M.E. Sparks

Thanks to Tom Kohut for this fresh and thoughtful piece in the new @bordercrossingsmag ✨✨✨

Three short clips from "Perennial", a video piece from last fall. I've been wanting to share these recent video experiments. Instagram feels like the wrong space for them, but that tension is also part of the work. These videos are slow, halting, without rhythm or efficiency. I’ve been thinking about our ever-increasing speed of consumption through endless scrolling. As visual culture blurs and collapses into a singular feed (art, war, cooking videos, genocide, fitness trends, environmental destruction) I'm wondering how to carve out a slower practice of observation and contemplation. These videos are about that search for a slower pace, as well as a desire for play - working in loops, without a clear end point or any real attempt at resolution.

💬💬 Next week I'll be chatting with the lovely @suziedsmith about my work in 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘭 @aceartinc 🩵 Come on by! Saturday, Nov 29, 2pm 💬💬

Thank you to everyone who has visited 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘭 @aceartinc 🪟 I’m grateful for the meaningful conversations that have unfolded around this new work 🧡 🧡 The exhibition runs until December 19! More images and video clips to come 💌 📸 @sefullerphoto

Perennial opens this Friday Nov 7 @aceartinc 5-9pm! 💙🧡💛🩷💚 Perennial 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘜𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘺, 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦-𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘴 — 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 — 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 — 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘺, 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺. Perennial @aceartinc 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘢 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭. @canada.council @mbartscouncil

𝘛𝘖𝘜𝘊𝘏𝘠 seemed like a good time to share this ongoing series — 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 — a collection of inkjet prints turned away from the viewer. I hold onto these papers and reference the printed images while painting. Over time, pigmented fingerprints accumulate on the back of each piece. 🫆🫆🫆🫆🫆

𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 is a new, somewhat rough around the edges, browser-based piece included in our group exhibition 𝘛𝘖𝘜𝘊𝘏𝘠 🫆 It's the final weekend to see the show! 226 Main St. 11am-4pm 🫆 /holding

A warm, sincere thank you to @madsbogoch for capturing the spirit of TOUCHY in her exquisite essay, ‘Handle with Care.’ What a privilege it is to have her words accompanying the works in this exhibition – we are so grateful. 💜 Swipe right to read the complete text or visit @226gallerywpg for your copy. The gallery is open today, Nov 2, from 11-4 pm for the show’s last day! @msprks @gillianking_artist @camillelescarbeau @caromousseau

𝘛𝘖𝘜𝘊𝘏𝘠, with @camillelescarbeau , @gillianking_artist and @caromousseau . Join us for the reception on Thursday Oct 30, 6-9pm! @226gallerywpg 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼 In the accompanying text @madsbogoch writes, "The sum of all this suggests a rebalancing of priorities, one that values labour, embodiment, and, yes, big feelings. 𝘛𝘖𝘜𝘊𝘏𝘠 feels lived-in and nourishing, rewarding attention and treating it as a precious resource, maybe even an endangered species. There is no "go touch grass" sermon here, just a slow ethic that feels especially apt in the era of AI slop but as timeless as taking the scenic route." 👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼

Matthis and I were married on a misty September weekend in Winnipeg. We're deeply grateful for our family and friends who came together to make this day so special. Thank you for surrounding us with your love ❤️  Officiated by our dearest @grampaat , with flowers from @kelppods , apple spice cake from @_madebyrob_ , photos from @wolveswithhands @grunskycarol @anniekierans @phoebenez @davidmichaelpeters , 1000 vegetables chopped by @cafebandit , bud vases made by mom, flowers + garlands prepped by @anglebbz @parkerdirksceramics , stories told by @megjessjones @gunstarriskky @jordshorts @iguess_igot_ig , mom + dad, guitar played by @babyeatingobrien , dance tunes from @juvelmusic , best moves from @cardboardcandyrobot 🕺🏼

Hemming, 2025, oil on canvas, 60" x 72" + scrappy collage studies from my time at NARS. (Thanks @lizawolters for the studio snapshots 💘)

Four short excerpts from 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴 (𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘕𝘰.3), 2025, 15:29 I'm so thankful for the time and freedom this spring @narsfoundation to play with wind, sunlight and sound. 💚 This is all new and experimental work, as I think through ways to reimagine/complicate the space of painting (and of viewing painting) with shifting, unfixed, and provisional surfaces/forms. In this case, the wind did most of the work. 🌬️