In folk metaphysics, which is concerned with how the supernatural impacts the physical world, the metaphysical contact zone encompasses both spatial and temporal sites, where the nature of reality is unfixed and contested between multiple perspectives. Identifying the transgressive space of the shoreline, Jason Marc Harris writes, “Part of the reason for this dynamic of a metaphysical contact zone along a shore is that it is the realm where the known and unknown worlds collide—how to define the nature of existence (from God to ghosts and fairies) depends upon the cultural beliefs that compete along that border for interpretative dominance.” Such metaphysical contact zones may also provide a key to how stories are formed and oriented, as well as to how different interpretations or centerings might emerge depending on where and when a story is shared. The shoreline, and often water, in Gaelic folklore behaves as both a threshold—a place of encounter—and a space of protection. In Highland belief, it is known as a refuge from the pursuit of unknown wights, while spirits cannot cross a running stream. In considering the shoreline as a threshold, we must also consider the boundary space of the ocean and the stories which emerge from and collide within its expanse.

[excerpt from MFA thesis, 2021]

~

I was born on the territories of the T’Souke Nation and the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples. It was there in part that I formed my identity in context of place and ways of being learned through it. I now live, create, write and participate as an uninvited inhabitant on the territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən People, including the Songhees, Esquimalt, W̱SÁNEĆ and T’Sou-ke Nations.

Education

Exhibitions & Residencies

2022
Seal-mara (Intertidal), solo exhibition. Fifty Fifty Arts Collective. Victoria, Canada

Fibreworks 2022. Cambridge Art Galleries. Cambridge, Canada.

BMK Residency. March-April 2022. Victoria, Canada.

2021
Proof 27. Gallery 44. Toronto, Canada.

Fata Morgana. Belkin Art Gallery. Vancouver, Canada.

Magic Lantern VIII. Magic Lantern x Closet Gallery. Montreal, Canada.

2020
Coordination Complex (diagram enclosed). AHVA Gallery. UBC. Vancouver, Canada.

The Lind Prize 2020, Shortlist Exhibition. The Polygon Gallery. Vancouver, Canada.

2019
Loud. Ok Cool. Gallery Parfois. Montreal, Canada.

Sites of Embodied Silence. Art Matters Festival x Art Souterrain. VAV Gallery. Montreal, Canada.

Would You Bury Me. Art Matters Festival x Nuit Blanche. Fonderie Darling. Montreal, Canada.

2018
Corrupted Portal. VAV Gallery. Montreal, Canada.

Eulogy of Gravity (solo exhibition). the Ou Gallery. Duncan, Canada.

2017
Rêverie (Curators: Julie Côté and Joani Tremblay). Projet Pangée. Montreal, Canada. (photography and poetry).

Ontology. Art Matters Festival. Espace Projet. Montreal, Canada. (curator).

2014
Spectres: Women in Art. Off-site. Victoria, Canada.

2012
Thought Fox Arts Collective. Off-site, Edinburgh College of Art. Edinburgh, UK.

Publications

2021
Magic Lantern VIII photobook. Print. Magic Lantern. Montreal, Canada.

2019
Loud. Ok Cool Editions. Print, zine. https://okcooleditions.storenvy.com/products/26135748-loud. (photography).

2018
“FRIDAY SUBMISSION: FOUR PHASES OF THE SALT MOON BY XAN SHIAN.” Lamono Magazine. https://www.lamonomagazine.com/friday-submission-four-phases-of-the-salt-moon-byxan-shian/. (photography).

Spill. The Void Magazine. Winter 2018. p. 1, 64. (photography).

Clicks (group publication). The Concordia Photo Collective (CPC). Photobook, print edition. (photography).

2017
The Far Off Blue Places. Projet Pangée. http://projetpangee-en.com/anjuli-rathod-vanessabrown/. (exhibition text).

Artist Feature. Stolen Ground Publishing. online pub. July 2017. (photography).

Ontology. Folca Press. Chapbook. (photography and poetry).

2016
2 Poems, Omega blog, Metatron. (poetry).

2015
Threshold. Leaf Press, 2015. Chapbook, with poems by Marilyn Bowering. (photography).

2012
The God Poems, with Leon Rooke. Words and Art: Commentary by Marilyn Bowering. The Exile Quarterly, Vol. 35. No. 3. 2012. (photography).

2012  Five Poems and an Interview with John Vardon. The New Quarterly, Issue 121. 2012. (photography).

Cover photograph. The Warwick Review, Vol. V. No. 4. (photography).

2011
Shian, Xan. Mini Series. The Void Magazine, vol. 10, no. 1. Winter, 2012. p. 18. Concordia University. (photography).

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