The print Alias showcases the impossibility of accurately rendering a curve on a pixelated screen. Donovan and Siegel accomplish this by magnifying the edge of seemingly curved digital letters, revealing each letter’s jagged, pixelated border. Each letter of the work has been digitally rendered and enlarged to reveal the pixelated outline, which is then embossed onto paper to create a three-dimensional relief print. 

Un-inked and with no clearly defined linear outline, the alias appears as a ghost or apparition, the letters quietly emerging from the faintly raised surface of the artefacts of distortion. Translated in relief to the page, however, the ethereal disintegrating font of the digital world is made material. Like a ghost, the alias is a diffused copy of an original, haunting the edges of the real.

Biography

Matt Donovan and Hallie Siegel are an artist collaborative who live and work in Toronto, Canada. Their work explores the hopes and anxieties brought about by major technological disruptions and blends 2D and 3D, text and sculpture, narrative and gesture.

Matt, an artist and industrial designer, brings an intuitive sense of 3-dimensional space and an in-depth knowledge of materials. Hallie, an artist, communications professional and science editor, brings a sensibility of the 2D in the form of text, typography and graphics. Both have a deep interest in cultural theory and the history of technology. 

The duo enjoys playing off each others’ strengths, and their best work is a seamless blend of contrasting skill sets: 2D and 3D, text and sculpture, narrative and gesture. By seeking out connections between different modes of production (for example: poetry and sculpture, graphic design and painting, handcraft and mass-production), Matt and Hallie create seamless hybrids that defy simple classification. Their approach is not one of juxtaposition, but rather of synthesis; they know that a work is complete when they can no longer distinguish where one discipline leaves off and another begins. 

Recent exhibitions include Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh, Scotland. Jul 29–Oct 22, 2016 (EdinburghArts Festival program).History Machines; Discovery Place, Charlotte, North Carolina, Jun 10–Sep 5, 2016.Beyond Rubik.; The DoSeum, San Antonio, Texas, Mar 12–May 12, 2016.Beyond Rubik.; TELUS World of Science, Edmonton, Canada, Nov 7, 2015–Feb 15, 2016.BeyondRubik.; Great Lakes Science Center, Cleveland, Ohio, May 30–Sep 7, 2015.Beyond Rubik.; Liberty Science Center, Jersey City, New Jersey, Apr–Nov, 2014; Olga KorperGallery, Toronto, Canada, Aug 25-Sep 29, 2012. Landscape/PetitsGenres.; Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto, Canada, March 31–April 23, 2011.Boy Series.; Niagara Artists Centre, St. Catharines, Ontario. March 9–June 4, 2011; Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto, Canada. March 2007–April 2007.HistoryMachines; World Washi Summit, Toronto, Canada. June 7–15, 2008; Beyond Rubik MacLarenArt Centre, Barrie, Ontario. September 10–November 1, 2009; The Latcham Gallery, Stouffville, Ontario. 2005

Their work is held in private and public collections, and has shown across North America and in Europe, where they were featured artists at the 2016 Edinburgh Arts Festival. In 2017 they were awarded a New Chapter Grant, a one-time program from the Canada Council created on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. They have been represented by the Olga Korper Gallery (Toronto) since 2007.