Ray Lodoen loves art. He also loves motorcycles and machining.
The Saskatoon-based artist has an exhibit, Iron Works, at the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum鈥檚 (EAGM) Gallery No. 2 that bridges these interests.
Lodoen was at the EAGM on May 13 for a reception and an artist鈥檚 talk on Iron Works, which features two motorcycles, a 1969 and a 1970 Honda CB350 that he has restored.
鈥淲hat I started with, actually, was just the motor and the neck piece of both of them,鈥� he told Lifestyles. 鈥淚 built the frames and most of the other parts on them.鈥�
He set the wheels up on a couple braces, the engines on a couple of 2x4s, and imagined how the motorcycles used to look. He dedicated a lot of time to bending and re-bending, and then welding.
鈥淚鈥檝e done a lot of sculpture before, a lot of metal sculpture, but sculpture that you have to take your own life in your hands with is different,鈥� said Lodoen. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to go highway speed on a sculpture that you made, you want that to stay together.鈥�
There isn鈥檛 a rear-wheel suspension in the motorcycles, which means that potholes and manhole covers can be jarring. Still, he鈥檒l be taking one of the motorcycles in Iron Works for a ride after the exhibit at the EAGM is finished, while the other bike will require some more work before it can be ridden.
He concedes that some people might not consider his motorcycle work to be art, but he doesn鈥檛 believe in a line between art and craft.
鈥淎rt and engineering, pretty much anything that鈥檚 designed and built, has some aspect of art to it 鈥� whether it be for functionality or esthetics,鈥� said Lodoen.
His love of motorcycles started when he was eight years old. It鈥檚 also when his interest in fabrication began.
鈥淚 started working on cars fairly early that came apart, and never went back together,鈥� said Lodoen. 鈥淏ut eventually they would go back together.鈥澛�
When he was young there was a foundry, John East Iron Works, not far from his home. There was a yard full of metal that fascinated him, and he was amazed what people could do with metal.
鈥淭o me, a piece of machinery that you can work with and engage with really seems to develop a sort of soul to it,鈥� said Lodoen. 鈥淥lder machinery has its own eccentricities that you have to learn to be able to relate to and work with 鈥� and that鈥檚 something that鈥檚 鈥� almost a loving thing to be able to work with the machinery.鈥�
Iron Works also boasts signs hanging from the walls. Lodoen began painting signs about 30 years ago, but when computers came in, sign painting fell by the wayside. Productivity increased but originality decreased.聽
鈥淚 did it for many years, and I had a love for it, and I鈥檓 just getting back into it now,鈥� said Lodoen.
His grandfather was a sign painter, and the smell of turpentine brings back memories of his grandfather鈥檚 garage.
Lodoen鈥檚 mother was also a painter.
Also new at the EAGM is Nicole Lynn鈥檚 Nostalgiatype in the project space. The exhibit offers a glimpse into the joy of riding a bicycle, and captures her interest in old bikes and antique cameras.
鈥淔or this project, Lynn has custom-built a pinhole camera, mounted to capture the rider from the perspective of the bicycle,鈥� said EAGM associate curator David Dyck in his curator鈥檚 statement. 鈥淓ach image was shot on 4x5 colour film with an exposure time of six to eight seconds.鈥�
The absence of the lens produces blurriness of the rider, light leaks and film scratches, which push the images into the realm of memory.
鈥淣ostalgiatype does not present the self-portrait in the sense that people are accustomed to, but portrays a concerned machine operator, tasked with piloting her bike through the world and operating her hand-built camera as she rides,鈥� Dyck said.
