“In the beforetimes, you would never have worked like this: through two hypothetical fifteen- minute breaks and a lunch, with no concept of overtime, entirely alone. There was time to distract yourself with images—a plentiful supply in a seemingly endless scroll. The work seemed less urgent then; yesterday’s rest was a risk of different proportions.”
Crystal Mowry
Crystal Mowry (she/her) is the Director of Programs at the MacKenzie Art Gallery. She has written texts for various artist-focused books on the work of Deanna Bowen, Shary Boyle, Brendan Fernandes, August Klintberg, and others. In 2024 she was shortlisted for the Hnatyshyn Foundation Mid-Career Award for Curatorial Excellence. She lives in Treaty 4 (Regina) with her family.
“Labour is a well-explored topic in contemporary art—it is the subject of annual festivals, the dedicated focus of art centres, and the premise of exhibitions, performances, and documentary projects. But it is also a tricky topic. […] Increasingly, artists who deal with representing labour also have to navigate the dematerialization of work, and find ways to bring the often-invisible aspects of contemporary labour (from technology to resource exploitation to gendered and racialized work) out into the light.”
