Storytelling with Luca Jesse Apel

May 4, 2024

Storytelling with Luca Jesse Apel

On May 4th from 1-3pm, we are delighted to host a storytelling session with rOGUE Gallery artist, Luca Jesse Apel!

Join Luca as he talks about the gods, legends, and history of dvoeverie (“dual belief”) that inspired his show Matka Las, and reprises the tradition of oral storytelling to weave the tale of “Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Beautiful”.

Luca’s exhibition, Matka Las, is up in our rOGUE Gallery until May 11, 2024.

“Matka Las (“Mother Woods”) is a brambled journey towards cultural reclamation, through the thickets of folklore, history, and fractured remnants of a mother tongue. As a trans child born to Polish immigrants, the artist grew up untethered, neither Polish, nor wholly Canadian, unable to reconcile joyous memories of Polish traditions with a country that considers his existence illegal. But once upon a time, Poland was pagan, ruled by anthropomorphic deities for whom gender may be fluid, unknown or irrelevant. In a series of wood carvings on pine slabs, Luca Jesse Apel reinterprets the mythic creatures of his childhood through a trans and queer lens, giving flesh to beings long without form, and reconnecting with a mother that may actually call him son.”

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About the Artist:

Luca Jesse Apel is a mixed media installation artist, a lifelong nomad, and a kid from Missouri still catching crayfish. As an artist, Luca creates with acrylics, wood, and found objects to form upcycled, three-dimensional, and texturally engaging works. In 2022 he had his first solo show at the Britannia Art Gallery in Vancouver, and in 2023, he was short-listed for VANL-CARFAC’s Emerging Artist Award. Outside of art, Luca writes the occasional poem, hikes the occasional mountain, and takes frequent naps.

Times and Locations