It Takes a Darlin’ to Know a Darlin’
Vanessa Bolinger (Nedda May)
See it On Campus: Level 2
Renée Van Halm + Pietro Widmer Graduation Award for Visual Arts — Honourable Mention
Cast aluminum, pulley, steel cable, 2025
Through the process of metal casting, objects re-emerge in their final form after undergoing multiple variations of material transformation. A pair of cast aluminum boots are linked together through the tension of a counterweight, required to steady a shifting stance. This balance is found by a Darlin’: an exemplification of selfhood, parallel to a counterpart.
It Takes a Darlin’ to Know a Darlin’ examines objects of interdependence, connection and affinity. The work engages with the complex relationships and parallels between queer identity and southern culture by embracing the iconic aesthetic of the cowpoke archetype.
To know a Darlin’ is to know one’s self.
A special thank you to Ian Rhodes, Rob Dolphin, Lucas Gómez Cid and Joseph Band for their time and support throughout the casting process.
The stages of the lost-wax casting method: First step was creating silicone and plaster molds, then melting and casting the wax, adding the wax gating systems, pouring and drying the plaster/silica investment casts, melting out the wax in the burnout kiln, melting and pouring the molten aluminum, demolding the investment casts, cutting off the gating systems and lastly cleaning up the aluminum casts.
Aluminum, 10 x 3.5 x 14″ each, 2025
Prairie Queen
Bronze, 15 x 7 x 19”, 2024
Drawing reference to the creatures of the prairies, this work is inspired by the queen of the fields herself, the grasshopper. Her ominous nature and alluring disposition reinforced through a bronze cast form.
Swarm
Aluminum, copper, found materials, 12 x 8 x 24”, 2024
Assembled onto a truck mirror bar, cast aluminum takes the place of the original reflective forms. Sunken into the aluminum surface are copper hoppers, warped and paralyzed in what was once molten metal.
Whistling Tin
Tin can, canola seeds/pods, audio transducer, field recordings, 6.5 x 6.5 x 7.5”, 2024
Created using a tin can found in a field in Alberta, as well as canola seeds and pods. A transducer emits recordings of a train whistle along with the sounds of the highway, recorded within the echo chamber of an empty grain bin.
Creek Creatures
Copper, steel, 30 x 30 x 26” each, 2024
Down by the creek, two critters lurk and shiver. This piece is activated by the movement of the stream.
Wavering
Steel, projector, speaker, 2024
A collaborative installation by Vanessa Bolinger (Nedda May) and Elise Gerhards.
This project was centred around a piece of manually fabricated corrugated sheet metal and seven steel rods. The soundscape and video projection were created with the materials of the sculpture, which respond and intersect with the work, visually and sonically.
Seahorse
Steel and found materials, 2024
Instrument and performance piece by Vanessa Bolinger (Nedda May) and Elise Gerhards.
A collaborative performance piece with Elise Gerhards. This work was created using various found steel objects as a starting point. The piece involves intuitive interaction and active listening to guide the performance.
Pods
Steel, stainless steel, 4 x 5 x 22” each, 2024
Abnormal garden peas.
