ECUAD Student Publication

Taking it’s name from the mischievous primate companion of Emily Carr, WOO is an experimental magazine which aims to showcase student artwork, criticism and creativity. Throughout ever-evolving manifestations, WOO has remained committed to creating publications which promote curiosity and reflect the temperature of the student body. The WOO team facilitates connections with established artists, curators, and alumni with the intention of engaging and contributing to the surrounding arts community. Submissions are accepted 3 times a year for printed editions, and we encourage feedback and written submissions for blog content throughout the year.

oliver rinne

interview and photographs by malvika garlyal

What does your practice look like?

My practice starts with an initial idea whether it be a specific experience I would like to portray or visual imagery I want to capture (recently it has been my response to assignment prompts for school), and then I progress from there! I try to do multiple sketches for how I want the finished piece to present, especially now that most of my work has been 3-D, as well as any written aspects I want to hit – quotes, descriptions of the form, meanings, or context.

What is your favorite part of your process?

I would have to say my favorite part of my process is between the initial sketches and the finished piece. I do enjoy the actual process of creating itself – learning certain techniques to use or playing with new mediums – but the feeling of seeing all your energy culminated into a physical thing is a feeling I have not been able to replicate any other way. That feeling is almost the same for my sketching as well in that I enjoy the sudden spark of an idea and the rush of needing to draw or write what I want to create down as well as the excitement to immediately start working on the piece itself.

What helps you get out of burn out? Is there anything specific that inspires you and your work?

When it comes to burnout the best way I have found to move through it is finding diverse ways to create without the pressure of making something “good.” For me I found that creating tattoo designs has been a massive help with burnout in that its not necessarily a form of drawing that I have to think about the context, meaning, or depth per say. With my tattoo designs I get to just draw for the sake of drawing and that has been a god send when I struggle with burnout – but sleep and food works too. Regarding inspiration, I am always inspired by images in general – I mean Pinterest is one of the best things ever for my inspiration honestly. I can have no idea what I am wanting to see and once I stumble on an image that piques my interest, visually with its form/colours or its context, I create a concept for artwork and flesh out all the details on paper

What is the best reaction you have gotten to one of your artworks?

One of my favorite reactions I have gotten towards one of my pieces was being told that they want to keep looking but cannot because of the actual subject matter – specifically regarding my painting Solace depicting a moment during top surgery. I enjoy hearing the reaction that artistically my work is something people want to stay with but they must work through actually viewing it, whether it be because they struggle with the gore, their own feelings/ experiences with/ towards it or the context in which I create.

What is the story behind i., paper shoes, sacrificial, small fry, solace? (pick whichever one you want to talk about!)

I would love to focus on describing the story behind i. as its one I do not often talk about especially because it is an incredibly vulnerable and personal piece for me. The painting is part of a three-piece series I have been wanting to complete for an exceedingly long time now, but it is the only piece in the series I have completed so far. The series is three self-portraits, but my aim is to have them be personal yet universal in the experience of trauma – specifically bodily trauma. I am focusing on parts of the body that while they can be identified as myself, they can also be identified by the viewer as something they may possess as well. I feel as though the traditional form of self portraits solely being the face is something many people feel removed from while viewing and allow themselves to stop thinking critically about their positionality with the art, the artist, and its context. By focusing on the body in the event of the crucifixion – both during and after – I aim to force the viewer to contemplate instances of having your bodily autonomy and comfort ripped away in something as universal as death.

What do you associate the word “Burnt” with; does it resonate with your work?

Other than my initial thought of being sunburnt, which unfortunately happens to me any time its sunny out – thank you genetics – I think about the physical act of burning something. I associate burning with the potential to destroy as well as create – kind of the “good and evil” in life. While I do not focus on depicting fire or burning in my work the ideology I associate burning with definitely resonates with my work and my intentions behind them.

Is there anything you would tell your past self?

Obviously, my answer is going to fluctuate as time moves on but in this given moment I would have told my past self to be patient and find moments to be grounded in my own body. That you will find people who will listen whether or not they relate to every aspect of your experience and they can teach you something in every interaction, that you’ll feel content in who you are as a person as well as your art and that you do have something to offer – specifically something to offer yourself. I would also 1000% tell my past self that the way you take care of yourself IS enough in this moment and there is a reason to continue to do so. Oh, I would tell my past self to actually eat pineapple too – it is really not as bad as you think.

faces of emily carr - artist spotlight