Looking Aft, we did it!

Installing with Trent and the Waterbridge ferry crew was a fantastic way to spend a Friday. 

Yesterday, almost exactly a year after the Art Party that saved it, Looking Aft was installed on the M.V. Columbia. Until the moment it was secured, buffed, shining in the sun I never truly believed that this concept could become reality. Too many road blocks along the way to re-hash it all, but I can say that from the day I was asked to design something for this ship to its installation, this project spanned three and a half years. 

Looking Aft; laser cut, hand woven, TIG welded 14' stainless steel sculpture. Installed on the house works of the M.V. Columbia.

Many times over those years I had to check in with myself and weigh the pros and cons of continuing the fight to bring public art to the ship I helped build. I had a key word tattooed on my arm 6 years ago. "Persevere" And in my heart I truly believed that this project was worth it. The agony over finding the perfect design, grant proposal writing, the fundraising, the weeks of hand sanding. All worth it.

Thank You

The crew at Waterbridge Steel, whom I had the privilege to work beside building the Columbia. You shared your skills and friendship over the months we laboured to build a ship. It's no small feat. Your strength and comraderie empowered me to be the best welder I could be. You inspired me to keep up, laugh it off, and eventually these experiences and memories led me to design something ... a gift back. Thank you for helping me recognize the beauty and strength in teamwork. You are a special group of individuals. Bonarc, my friends.

Maryse Langevin and  Callum Campbell  from the Ministry of Transportation for the concept that we could and should put public art on the Columbia.

Our Mayor, Karen Hamlin, for suggesting that the small grubby welder girl over there also builds sculpture and sowing this seed of a project into my life.

Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance, Columbia Basin Trust for your support of a major project grant and afterwards for the patience and flexibility when the project had to change or die.

Waterbridge Steel and John Harding for the adventure of a lifetime. Shipbuilding is a wild, exciting ride. 

Waterbridge Ferries, so welcoming of the arrival of Looking Aft and helpful in the physical work of installation. You guys rule. I feel I have left her in great hands.

My family, friends, community for your endless support.  All I talk about is projects, and you guys are so cool to just hop on board with one. When I asked if you could help me replace the funds needed to go ahead with this project? Can you help me build an Art Party? You all said yes! And we did. 

Looking Aft, your trials made me stronger and resulted in the invention of something we didn't even know we needed in our lives. Art Party. We made, and keep making Lemonaid. 

From Scratch

I have always wanted to make a stop motion movie. This was my third attempt. The first two were the worst kind of film; a promising beginning with a developed character and a nice plot line and then inevitably I would become engulfed in the process and slowly take less pictures... So they became these films where it all kinda falls apart in the middle and the ending makes no sense. 

Heavenly Bodies

Last fall I wrote a proposal that I truly thought would fail. I wrote it because I believed at some point in my lifetime, skill set and experience combined with imagination, would finally be enough to qualify a project for funding. Funding from somewhere other than my own pockets.

I am amazed and overwhelmed to announce that time is now! I am so grateful to my friends and family who have supported me throughout this life of trying times you believed in my vision and fed it too. And a big thank you to B.C. Arts Council for making dreams come true. 

Heavenly Bodies will be a steel and illuminated resin rocket planetarium. Its cosmic patterns seek to connect us with our origins. Installed indoors or out, it can be viewed day and night. 

Hubble Ultra Deep Field Image. 10,000 plus galaxies in one tiny point in the sky.

 B.C. Arts Council Selection Jury, 

I seek beauty that comes with disequilibrium. I seek darkness accentuated by light. 

I have wondered, lately, why our culture’s collective eyes and imaginations are returning to the dream of space. The signs are there, expressed through pop culture, fashion, and entertainment. I believe that it is partially due to the public’s adoration of astronaut, Chris Hadfield, with his use of photographs, the written word, and social media. He brought humanity to space and space to humanity. We have reconnected. 

I spent years investigating, sketching, and journaling the visual perfection of nature, and what became apparent to me were nature’s patterns. More and more, science brings us these patterns. Personable scientists like Dr. Helen Czerski, Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Bill Nye create television shows like Cosmos, Orbit: Earth’s Extraordinary Journey, and Space Suite, making statements of fact that force us to push aside our perceptions of cultural differences and promote cooperation as a species. This practical aspect of popular science comes with the magic of images taken by astronomers with the Hubble telescope; images that can captivate and inspire a new generation. In a society that is increasingly controlled by fear of the unknown, it’s time to encourage other emotions and reactions … reactions such as wonder, awe, and connection. Although space feels both dangerous and beautiful, it has much to teach us about ourselves. 

We live in the midst of a race to bring the common man to space. Private firms are working towards it. NASA says it will take $100 billion and twenty years: I propose to do it for .001% of that in two months. 

Thank you for considering my application. 

Sincerely,

Kate Tupper

Art Party Intentions

Long story short…

On the summer day in 2013, after we launched the MV Columbia, I was approached to design a sculpture for her. From the beginning I was skeptical.  In my experience, it’s hard to trust that a project will materialize. But because I am an artist and a dreamer, I could not refuse such a great opportunity to build something for so many humans to enjoy. I never could have dreamt the project would stretch out for almost three years. 

Throughout the design process, I came to realize what an important role that art plays in my life and that public sculpture is a way to bring this magic to others. And so I trusted in the future and dreamt of something that could communicate to the viewers a tremendous journey; a story about camaraderie and hard work. Something that would have the humans consider where objects come from and that not everything is built by robots, yet.

Once the design and concept was complete, I was asked to apply for grants which would partially cover the expense of the project. After one failure with BC Arts council, I was able to secure a $10,000 loan from CKCA Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance with the remainder of the funds coming from the partners that had initiated the project. The moment I told them the good news they backpedaled and informed me that although they really wanted the project to go through, the funds they had promised were no longer available. 

These are the moments when I question everything about being an artist. Throughout this project I have fought and won and fought and lost. I have designed something I want to share with our community and the travelers who pass through. I have done everything in my power to bring this project to life… almost … and so in one last effort, my friends and I hope my community will gather around me to celebrate the arts and culture in our area and to raise funds for the project that has broken and healed my heart time and again.

Interested in attending or sharing your work? Art Party Nakusp on Facebook

For a more in depth look at the sculpture project check out:

Looking Aft

Looking Aft paper model, finished sculpture will be mounted below the wheel house and entirely woven from stainless steel.

Watch the build in dry dock: http://www.waterbridgesteel.com/timelapseland5.mp4

Time-lapse build on the water: http://www.waterbridgesteel.com/timelapsewater.mp4

Creation Story

I begin with an investigation into something indescribable. It’s a feeling of nostalgia from the most beautiful, raw, truthful moment. As a creator, I try to catch these ‘memories’ and build them into something tangible. I take the fuzzy thoughts and concepts and form them together. Patterns reveal themselves and this evolves into questions.

Story board

I do research. Like any of the sciences, this is the fun, exciting part, full of discoveries and magic. Life brings me gifts in this process through people, images, and experiences. Recording and translating data is slow. I sketch and 3D investigations start. I build small projects that test the boundaries of the design. If you know two of the angles of a triangle you can find the third angle. By identifying and classifying facts I grow closer to my answers. 

Chain guard

I search for the truth until I find a connection to the feeling and it becomes a real object through the use of texture, lines, curves, colours, and depth. Every day in the studio I work towards this truth, shaping it from cardboard and then steel. Sometimes it’s torture; a compulsion to build this thing regardless of the painful pressure in my hands. I feel sick about the investment of money and time. Self doubt. Everyday I create and tear it all apart, not physically anymore, but in my mind.

Frame detail

And still I build, and the promise of a new project fills me up in a way that food, substances, and love cannot. And I continue to try and remember, or is it discover, what the truth is that I so badly need to share with you. A message from beyond what's already here. I have to create. I could say that I saw it in a dream, but I was awake.

All the naked parts