Our group is composed of Amelia Schembri and Louis Denes: we are an artist couple. We met during our undergraduate studies in Visual Arts at the University of Western Ontario in 2002. Quickly we've formed a cohesive working relationship in the field of visual arts. After graduation we continued to work and exhibit together. Our first collaborative work was a photographic series for a Sport and Art exhibition at the Arts Project in London, ON. Our work then took a performative turn in 2006 when we formed a group called Small Appliances. It utilized amplified kitchen appliances to parody a rock band. Our first performance was in 2006 for the Click Media festival at the John Labat's Visual Arts Centre; it was given th award of excellence. Over the next two years, we've continued to perform for art openings and local pubs, culminating in a performance at the 2008 Ultra Electronic Music Festival in Miami Florida.
We attended the 2010 International Artist in Residency in Budapest Hungary together for professional development It was a self-directed residency and we worked together on two projects. The works were exhibited at the Ferencarosi Gallery, Budapest in 2009 & 2010.
In 2015 we created an interactive performance installation for Nuit Blanche Ottawa/Gatineau. Our project entitled, The Applause Choir was accepted through a juried process led by Dr Megan Smith and awarded a feature location in the Byward Market, Ottawa. The performance consisted of a red carpet and interactive light installation ,\Tith performers positioned behind and alongside tl1c carpet ready to cheer, clap and applaud the public as they stepped on and passed h)'. The project ,vas a tremendous success v.ith the public and e,.., a continuous crowd throughout the night, and f eaturcd in the Otta,va Citizen. Our n-iost recent project together started in 2016 and is called Generica. The work in progress consists of a number of large paintings, detailing n1ass groups of people displayed in ,rarious color schematics. Our goal is to exemplify the beauty and diversity of a crowd through multicolor paint. V\7e have received individual studio rental through the city of Ottawa Artist Studio Program, whicl1 is a juried process. Our project proposal for Generica was accepted for a 3-ycar term until 2023.
