The Reassembled Self Series featured on Adrian Harewood’s All In A Day (CBC) prior to their 2007 exhibition at La Petite Mort Gallery Ottawa.
Adrian Harewood of CBC Radio’s All In A Day interviewed Sherry Tompalski regarding the exhibition of her Reassembled Self Series at La Petite Mort Gallery on July 27, 2007.
What is the Reassembled Self Series About?
The Reassembled Self Series takes the common experience of change, the many feelings, the turmoil and the inspiration and visualizes it as a tearing up and reconstructing of the self.
This new series of works on paper features faces and figures reassembled from torn drawings, coloured paper and shredded musical scores using graphite, oil stick, conte and charcoal. The work visualizes various psychological themes from “Pseudo Obedience” to “The Fragmented Self.”
Psychologically Informed Images
Inspired by our inner experience, I am trying to make psychologically informed images that stimulate a curiosity about the hidden motives and conflicting desires that live within all of us. The work is developed in an exploratory fashion involving painting and drawing which subsequently is torn-up and reassembled with a collage of mixed media elements in an effort to create a fresh view of the subject.
The Experience of Impermanence
The work is trying to capture our fragility and resilience, and our experience of impermanence. Take for example Rumi’s poems – and the following is my favorite. “This being human is a guest house Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”
Adrian Harewood Backgrounder
Adrian is co-host of CBC News Ottawa. Harewood attended elementary and high school at Ashbury College, and was involved in community radio at CKCU (Carleton University) and CHUO (University of Ottawa). He has been a guest host on national CBC programs such as As it Happens, Sounds Like Canada and The Current. Before coming to television, Harewood was the host of All In A Day on CBC Radio One in Ottawa.