Hockey enjoys a notional status almost akin to religion, especially here in Canada, but having never played anything more serious than childhood pond-hockey, Rylan Broadbent avoided the inculcation of organized sport. And yet still found himself drawn to play the game as an adult. Broadbents first chance to play in goalie equipment came in year one of art school, and the feeling was entirely new. The ritual of shedding street clothing, down to bare skin, and donning an armor of sorts, was all unfamiliar to him, but one that he has repeated hundreds of times since. More than the pleasure of competition and the comradery of team sports, he continues to be attracted to how the equipment makes him feel: not impervious, exactly, (pain is often part of the game) but capable, protected, and secure.
Why the goalie mask? Because this one piece of gear, more than any other, feels the most personal and intimate to Broadbent, but it can also act as a wider symbol for how we choose to veil ourselves. Everyone wears masks —some metaphorical, some physical— in order to present, project, or protect themselves. And while goalies at every level of the game customize their equipment to match the team, the mask remains a representation of the individual that often features highly detailed imagery and symbols. Broadbent is drawn to the unique combination of form, meaning, and function that sets the mask apart from the other equipment.
Broadbent began working through this installation by pressing clay into a plaster mold of one of his old goalie masks. The resulting object is close in form to the original, but offers a number of possibilities in which to modify the context and pose technical, material, and semiotic questions. Clay was selected as the primary vehicle for its materiality, proximity of local facilities, and deep heritage. The masks now reference a craft tradition that stretches back thousands of years, and like all ceramics, embody a unique combination of aesthetics and physical properties; they are both incredibly durable and astonishingly fragile.
Behind My Mask, I am Secure will be on view in the Project Gallery from January 27 to March 11, 2023.
Rylan Broadbent is a sculptor, designer, and fabricator, who resides and works out of the North Okanagan. Employing an array of techniques, ranging from traditional to digital, he is primarily interested in examining the interconnected relationships between object, form, material, and meaning.
Objects, like images and language, can hold information; they are utilitarian in their function and also symbols that reference bodies of meaning. And just as physical forms can be modified, so too can the semiotic attachments. Context can be skewed, shifting definitions, and complicating the interpretation. The objects he selects often speak towards notions of masculine identity, relationship to violence, and social fragmentation.
Broadbent holds a BFA from the University of Calgary, and a MFA from University of British Columbia Okanagan.