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Episode 4.1 (December 2023). Welcome back to The No Normal. In this episode, we are happy to welcome Canadian interdisciplinary artist Steph Patsula. The projects Steph creates are focused across a variety of processes coalescing in a union of somatic experiencing, experimental sound creation and lens based ephemera. Patsula’s work prioritizes the creation of immersive art installations and live-performance which explore bodies as beacons and receptors in relationship to each other. Her processes embrace the unpredictable dynamics of working with new materials, spaces and bodies by corresponding with them improvisationally. A technique that reflects a personal desire for reciprocity and intimacy through an attentiveness to collaboration and adaptability. New Music Edmonton was delighted to feature Steph in our 2023 festival, where she gave a live performance of her ongoing project, Sympathetic Resonance, and took a bunch of us on a lovely, if somewhat smoky, soundwalk in the river valley.
Episode 4.2 (May 2024). In this episode of The No Normal we are delighted to feature one of the key figures in the experimental arts scene here in amiskwaciy-wâskahikan/ Edmonton, Kelly Ruth. Since moving here from Winnipeg in 2017, Kelly Ruth has given dozens of live performances, mainly featuring amplified weaving looms, collaborated with many local and visiting artists, created gallery installations, and worked within, or alongside, some of the key arts organizations here. Among her many activities, Kelly Ruth has for several years been developing a performance practice that takes place in the virtual world, on Second Life. Through her avatar, Poppy Morris, she has cultivated a unique approach to artistic world-building while developing an entirely new, international audience. To top it off, Kelly Ruth has developed a really amazing practice that hybridizes simultaneous in-person and virtual performances.
Episode 4.3 (July 2024) – In this episode of The No Normal we have a feature interview with ‘cellist, composer, improviser and sound artist India Gailey. Named one of “30 Hot Classical Musicians Under 30” by the CBC, India Gailey is a cellist, composer, and improviser of “unparalleled talent” (Take Effect) based in Kjipuktuk/Halifax, NS. With a background spanning many styles, she has worked most often in the realms of classical and experimental music, including tours across Canada, the United States, and Germany. India released her second solo cello album, to you through (Redshift Records) to much acclaim. She is a member of the lauded improvisational quartet New Hermitage, and works frequently with living composers, filmmakers, visual artists, and dancers to create exploratory works of interdisciplinary art. India is the recipient of numerous honours, including awards from Arts Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Talent Trust, the Canada Council for the Arts, and Acadia & McGill Universities. India loves raspberries, large marimbas, and the smell of burning thyme.
