The Landlord photo collage C. Ascher             It’s a funny thing about memory. There are different kinds. There is the pop-up memory that surprises us as we’re living in the now. There is the lingering memory, perhaps of something pleasant or someone for whom we cared, or the inescapable memory of a trauma or conflict....Read More

Time Out photo collage C. Ascher             Well. I have been invited yet again to donate one of my artworks for a fundraising event. I’m always told it’s a great honour I am being given, the opportunity to have my name beside tens of others’ associated with a good cause. I am reminded of said...Read More

Unpacking photo collage C. Ascher           I was recently part of two exhibition events in the suburbs of Montreal, one for which I was the invited curator, and one where I helped an artist friend set up her booth. Each event involved many member artists of local associations and a large...Read More

Lovers photo collage C. Ascher I recently had a conversation with an artist who finds he is at a difficult crossroads. As if being an artist weren’t demanding enough, he is a sculptor, and one who works to human, not environmental scale. What’s more he is an immigrant. He is European trained within a strict...Read More

Escape photo collage C. Ascher “Academics are killing the arts!” Most recently, I heard this complaint from an artist who is suddenly being refused admission to exhibitions in a gallery that up to now has eagerly represented her art. Why was she refused, she asked? She was told that her artist’s statement was too vague....Read More

Elemental photo collage C. Ascher People often ask artists, people often ask me, “Where do you get your ideas?” which actually seems to mean, “Where do you get your strange ideas?”  It seems to stymie them how artists working expressively can keep generating image after image, many of them rendered in very unique, unexpected and...Read More

This Introvert’s Circus photo collage C. Ascher             “Are you an Introvert or Extrovert?” That question came up out of nowhere in a doctor’s waiting room. The person was reading a magazine. I was going to ignore the question. I edged over a little, pretending I hadn’t heard. But I couldn’t help thinking about it....Read More

Free! photo collage C. Ascher I’m thinking that in this world of ‘selfies’ and minutiae, the focus seems to have shifted from our actual accomplishments to our texts and photos about our daily activities, our fantasies and to our ‘brand’. The ease and speed of recording, and the sheer volume of postings makes it imperative...Read More

The Dealer photo collage C. Ascher Why do people who are not artists or who know very little about art’s history, practitioners or techniques want to open art galleries? I have over time observed that there are two motivating factors:  1) they love art as a superior endeavour, think that artists are ‘special’ humans and...Read More

Weight of the World photo collage C. Ascher I’m experiencing some difficulties due to a temporary problem with structural integrity. It’s making me out-of-character jumpy. I have one cartilage-less knee that needs replacing, another feeling abused and acting up in solidarity, and a shoulder that wants to freeze because it resents the extra workload. They...Read More