What begins as a walk through a gallery quickly becomes something more intimate in Alison Norlen’s newest exhibition at the Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery (MJMAG).

Running through Aug. 16 after opening May 22, Odyssey uses large-scale panoramic drawings to guide visitors through rooms filled with books, furniture, keepsakes, and memories.

Subtle sounds of cats purring, dishes being washed, and other familiar rhythms of domestic life drift quietly through the space, creating the sensation that someone has only momentarily stepped away and turning the exhibition into something closer to entering another person’s world.

Norlen said the exhibition was partly inspired by the Dennis Severs’ House in London, an immersive historical home often described as a living still life.

Despite its deeply personal origins, Odyssey was never intended to simply showcase her home.

“I’m hoping that when people look at this room, or are in my panorama, they are transported to their own and think about the things they surround themselves with and how they make it cozy and safe and warm — a place they want to be in,” she said. “That’s very important to me, that it somehow has a sense of familiarity and makes people think of their own experiences.”

Originally developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the project began as a sketchbook exercise as isolation kept Norlen inside her Saskatoon home. With time seemingly slowing down, she found herself drawn to sketching the rooms around her in a notebook, an exercise that began as simple observations of familiar spaces before steadily evolving into something more ambitious.

Many of the objects depicted in the drawings were drawn from years of collecting, gifts, and personal memorabilia. The resulting work eventually expanded into life-size panoramic drawings, smaller embroidered works — a medium Norlen was experimenting with for the first time — and installations throughout the gallery. To further blur the line between representation and reality, she incorporated two chairs and a rug from her own home directly into the space.

Created on large sheets of Stonehenge paper using watercolour and chalk pastel, the drawings are displayed in the same stapled format Norlen uses in her own studio, offering visitors a glimpse into both the finished work and the process behind it.

Odyssey marks a noticeable shift for Norlen, whose established body of work has long focused on spectacle and large public environments. Throughout her career, she has explored spaces such as theme parks, carnivals, fairgrounds, and elaborate architectural environments.

“I spend a lot of time thinking about spectacle,” she said. “I really love things that are quite extravagant.”

For Odyssey, however, Norlen moved in the opposite direction.

“This is unique to me because it’s quite a bit more personal, and there’s less distance for me from the content of this work,” she said. “I feel like it’s a tribute, in a way, to a past life.”

The exhibit’s title reflects that transition. Recently retired from teaching at the University of Saskatchewan, Norlen moved from Saskatoon to Kenora, Ont., leaving behind both the home represented in the work and a significant chapter of her life.

“It’s about leaving a part of your life behind and moving into something else that’s unknown,” she said about Odyssey.

Internationally recognized for her large-scale drawings and installations, Norlen received a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Manitoba and a master of fine arts degree from Yale University. Her work has appeared in dozens of solo and group exhibitions throughout North America and abroad, while her pieces are held in collections including the National Gallery of Canada and Mackenzie Art Gallery.

For Norlen, the exhibition ultimately returns to something more personal. Rather than inviting visitors to simply look into her life, she hopes they leave thinking about their own.

“It’s meant to resonate with the viewer,” she said. “It’s not saying ‘Look at my place,’ but ‘This is something familiar.’”

MJMAG is located at 461 Langdon Crescent and can be reached at 306-692-4471. For more information, visit MJMAG.ca.

Aaron Walker

Reporter

Moose Jaw Express