The past and present speak to each other in a language of accommodations and concessions, pushing and pulling, until mutual understanding is reached. The feeling of peace that comes with ultimately accepting circumstance, both as it is and how it has unfolded, lies at the heart of between today & yesterday, a solo exhibition by glass artist robert weissmann.

Surrendering to the passage of time recalls to weissmann a vision of being underwater. Beneath the rolling surface, he finds himself unable to move – panic and freedom simultaneously emerging as he releases himself to the whim of the water. The ocean becomes metaphor for the weight and continual movement of time, relinquishment being the way in which weissmann has chosen to navigate within it. His relationship to the ocean as a body of water is contradictory – at once fearing it yet feeling compelled to be near it – and that complicated affection seeps into his body of work in opaque hues, abstracted forms and textures.

The ocean’s vast horizon line evokes in the artist a quiet curiosity. The inability to know exactly what lies beyond that which is immediately visible creates room for chance. He approaches sculpture the same way – allowing the process to naturally unfold by removing expectation and inviting fluidity, intuition and surprise. He accepts that the glass will inevitably take on the shape it was always meant to become.

between today & yesterday is an exhibition created in gratitude to the past and with humble satisfaction of the present. New and older artworks are brought together in conversation, revealing experiences, choices and ideas flowing between them in circular rhythms. The past, an undercurrent, and the present, a natural deposit, each folding into and shaping each other, dissolving and replenishing in stride. Time will unfold as it must. Trust that it will bring you where you need to be.

Esplanade Project Space is located along the exterior West and South walls of the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Center, along 2nd Street and 4th Avenue, and is comprised of four vitrines. This unique and always accessible exhibition space is dedicated to presenting work by individuals and groups based-in or with strong ties to Medicine Hat. The exhibitions reflect the diversity and richness of our city’s arts and heritage and aim to cultivate vibrancy within the downtown core.