Neil Klassen

My current work marries tar, an oil bi-product, with the stern faces of the Old West, drawing comparisons between these rebels and the Big Oil culture we experience globally. Much like the Big Oil companies of today, the Western Outlaw’s placed themselves above rationalism and the restrictions of the law symbolizing both a particular kind of freedom and a certain perverse, ruthless greed. The parallels between Outlaws and Oil include shared notions of entitlement, power, dependency and an attraction to a lifestyle of excessiveness. The purpose of Outlaws is to raise questions regarding the implications of the world's dependence on the use of oil as a resource.

Time Is All We’ve Got is a collaborative project between Braden Labonte and myself. Drawing inspiration from clinical textbooks and symbols of suburban youth counter culture, we present a selection of work using a variety of mediums and methods. From sculptures constructed out of tar, to precisely rendered oil paintings, the focus of the work is an interest in the interrelation between self-preservation and self-destruction.

"So she sat on, with closed eyes, and half believed herself in Wonderland, though she knew she had to open them again, and all would change to dull reality." —Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

This series of mixed-media work was based on my experiences and observations while working as a student labourer at a steel factory. The stark utilitarian landscape of the various buildings and structures made an impression on me and eventually my work moved to connect with these impressions.