This art exhibit uses trash as a sign for independent creativity

A new exhibition at the Kelowna Art Gallery looks to create a nostalgic feeling with some unusual sources, while also highlighting the need for kids to be creative.

Pinking Index, by Hannah Jickling and Reed H. Reed, showcases collagraphy and monoprints from pieces of garbage collected from school yard playgrounds.

Each framed piece in the exhibit features trash with the graphics and branding removed, including some pieces from past projects the pair has done, like Big Rock Candy Mountain - where the artists worked with elementary school students to produce edible art.

The artists’ monoprints present an assortment of garbage like plastic straws, pop can tabs, and candy bar wrappers, while the collagraph print process removes all the graphics.

Kelowna Art Gallery Curator Christine May told Kelowna10 the exhibit dives into the notion of adult interference on kids.

“You’ll see references to these adult hands that are constantly guiding children for good reasons, but the artists are thinking about how important it is to give children space to create,” she explained. “It shows that children can come to their own conclusions without the constant interference of adults in their lives.”

May said the exhibit will provide some nostalgic feel to those who grew up in a different generation.

“I think this is going to relate well to our younger audiences and our school tours, but I think it’s also going to have those important references of adults who are still children at heart,” she said. “We see a lot of candy bars and this iconic zig pattern poster that you would see on an elementary school posterboard. It’s bringing together the young and the old, and I think it can be very relatable.”

Jickling and Reed aim to emphasize the surface material of industrially produced food by highlighting slick plastics, crushed foils, urgent tears, and zig-zag cuts.

Throughout the run of the show, the limited-edition poster Zig Zag Zillionaires will travel to Kelowna area classrooms, providing a link to in-gallery workshops, which repurpose material used in past Big Rock Candy Mountain projects.

The exhibit runs until May 7th at the Kelowna Art Gallery.