Bennett Malcolmson at the Laughing Buddha

Location

Laughing Buddha

194 Elgin St, Greater Sudbury, ON P3E 3N7

Get directions on google

Artists

Bennett Malcolmson

Curator

Darcie Brownell

Lauren Tisdale

Bennett Malcolmson. Waterscape, 12. 2021. Photo print. Collection of the artist.

Artist Statement

In Millais’ Ophelia, the drowning Hamlet character floats along the riverbank surrounded by brush and with wildflowers – a poppy prominent among them – flowing from her hands. Clad in rubber boots, I walked through streams and waters’ edge observing the motion of the water and the mosses, grasses, and rocks it flows over. In lakes and oceans I played and dived, disturbing the already restless waves. Even stillness is a type of dancing.

Through my practice, I have used photography as a tool to root myself in place – to observe and connect. These works, made with 35mm film from 2021 to 2022, use slow shutter speeds, underwater photography, and tight framing among other techniques. The effect is that water and human interaction with water is abstracted from its context, hopefully conveying the melancholy and beauty of the usually familiar. These are spaces both intimate and distant in my mind.

About the Artist

Bennett Malcolmson is a photographer, zine maker, and occasional writer. With his partner, Chloé LaDuchesse, he presented the photo exhibition The Only Way Is Through at the Amberhill Gallery. He lives in Sudbury, ON with Chloé, and their three cats.