"Omote (面)"
"Omote (面)" is an art/dance film conjured through the collaborative process between two Japanese Canadian artists: Vancouver-based dance artist Shion Skye Carter, and Halifax-based mask artist Miya Turnbull made in 2022.
Hand-crafted papier-mâché masks, coming in myriad shapes and facial expressions, become extensions of the body in this work. The masks' distorted imagery borders on the grotesque, challenging traditional ideas of beauty, while gesture and tableaus articulate the concept of honne (本音) and tatemae (建前): when a person’s true feelings and desires (honne) contrasts from the behavior and opinions they share in public (tatemae). The masks also serve as tools to reflect on self identity, affected in part by the artists' shared mixed race Nikkei heritage. How do cultural expectations, and one’s ancestral history, influence the parts of ourselves that we express to the world, and the parts that we keep hidden away?
The kanji symbol 面 can be translated as "Omote"- face, surface and also as "Men"- mask.
This film was developed with periods of both in-person and remote creation time, as Shion and Miya navigated what it means to collaborate while living on opposite coasts of Canada. Both artists were brought together by Yume. Digital Dreams Collaboration project, organized by Tashme Productions, 2022.
Music: Stefan Nazarevich (Vancouver, B.C.)
This film has since been expanded into a 20 min live performance in 2023, commissioned by CanAsian Dance Festival (Kickstart). Co-presented by Tangente and Festival Accès Asie at Édifice Wilder/ Espace Vert, Montréal, QC: May 6-9th, as well as co-presented by CanAsian Dance and T.O.Live at Meridian Arts Centre/ Greenwin Theatre, Toronto, ON: May 12-14th.
Film screenings include;
-Shifting Tides- Dance Films from Atlantic Canada, IMPACTfest; Moncton, NB, Sept 2023.
-Asian Arts: Environments of Resilience and Sustainability, 2023 Media Arts Exhibition (10th
edition Korean Film Festival Canada/ Arts East-West), Dazibao Gallery; Montreal, QC, May 2023.
-Inward, Outwards, Acadia University Art Gallery; Wolfville, NS. Nov 2022-Jan 2023.
-International Portrait Film Festival, (online) Festhome TV; Bulgaria. Nov 2022.
-FIN (Atlantic International Film Festival); (on screen and online) Halifax, N.S., Sept 2022.
-GEI Symposium (online); Victoria, B.C., Sept 2022.
-Fashion for Bank Robbers Exhibit, MaximiliansForum; Munich, Germany, Aug-Oct 2022.
-Powell Street Festival, Firehall Arts Centre; Vancouver, B.C., July 2022.
-Yume. Digital Dreams Online Vernissage (Tashme Productions); March 2022.
Fore more info:
shionskyecarter.com
miyaturnbull.com
stefannazarevich.com
yumedigitaldreams.com
