Jessica Plattner's piece title Exquisite Corpse. (Photo Courtesy Medicine Hat College)

By Chris Brown

MHC instructor’s artwork bought for provincial virtual museum

Aug 3, 2023 | 9:22 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – A Medicine Hat College instructor’s art has been chosen for a provincial collection.

Art and design instructor Jessica Plattner’s work is now part of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts’ virtual museum, purchased through a program called Acquisition by Applications.

The work is a self-portrait of Plattner called Exquisite Corpse. She created the piece during the COVID-19 pandemic and was inspired by a 1920s surrealist drawing game. Traditionally, the game is collaborative, with several artists drawing on a folded piece of paper, without seeing the work from others, resulting in a disjointed final piece.

“I like the idea of a body that’s holding together, but it’s broken apart, so it doesn’t quite make sense, but somehow, it’s still functioning,” says Plattner of her final work. “I think especially through the pandemic, so many people felt that way, like they were barely holding it together.”

If you happen to be in the Edmonton area in the next 10 days you can see Exquisite Corpse and more of Plattner’s work in the flesh.

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A show called On the Surface: Jessica Plattner & Jen Pankratz, is at Gallery@501 and is open to the public until Aug. 12.

As an instructor, Plattner believes consistently working on her craft is a benefit not only to herself, but also to her students.

“All of the instructors in the art and design program are professional working artists and it’s a benefit to the students because it means that we are able to walk the walk,” explains Plattner. “If we’re telling students to use material in a certain way or to experiment in a certain way, we have the experience to support that.”

She says she is grateful a government body like AFA supports artists in the province and hopes more artists in small communities can get the same opportunity.

For more on the artist visit jessicaplattnerart.com.