The works in Frontiers in Real Estate suggest themes of escapism, scarcity and resourcefulness. The six sculptures are built from scale model vehicles that have been altered and combined with traditional wooden dwellings, complete with shingling and architectural embellishments common to houses found in Eastern Canada. The prints depict imagined makeshift dwellings set into remote Northern landscapes, industrial ruins and tall telecommunications towers.
BIOGRAPHY
CHRIS FOSTER is an interdisciplinary artist working in illustration, sculpture and print. His work employs a dark sense of humour to navigate feelings of optimism and hopelessness in contemporary life. His work celebrates Do-It-Yourself resourcefulness while challenging popular notions of progress in Western culture. His creative process is motivated by production-based projects, multiples and editions. He finds his aesthetic cues in old books, everyday vernacular and obsolete technology.
Foster attained an interdisciplinary BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) in 2008. Since then, he has exhibited his work in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Ontario. His broader creative practice has included work with several artist-run projects in Halifax. He co-produced a publication called The Periodical Project; a free quarterly newspaper promoting Halifax based Artists. He was the Chair of Programming for the Khyber Centre for the Arts from 2011 – 2013 and a founding member of the Last Chance Studio, a shared studio complex in Halifax’s North End. He is the festival co-ordinator for the White Rabbit Open Air Art Project, a month long Artist Residency program that takes place in Upper Economy, NS each year in August. After a decade of living in Halifax, Chris recently moved to Toronto to explore the side streets and back alleys in search of new friends and collaborators.