Wall Drawing (Vesica Pisces)

Sep 13, 2025
Field:

Performance

 Location:

Gallery, Western Front

 Time:

3:30 – 4:00 p.m.

Description:

Archie Barry’s performance Wall Drawing (Vescia Pisces) transformed the gallery into a site of resonance and inscription. Through lyrical hand movements, vocalizations, and the act of drawing directly onto the gallery wall with custom pencil press-on fingernails, Barry created a choreographed interplay of sound and gesture that privileged sensing over explanation. Two pre-recorded vocal tracks reverberated upward from speakers placed under the gallery floor, merging with Barry’s voice above to envelop the space in vibration.

The performance took inspiration from the life and writing of Reed Erickson (1917–1992)—an eccentric, influential, and unsettling figure in the history of trans organizing—and extended Barry’s video artwork Dream for Reed (2025) on display in their solo exhibition Try Keeping an Open Channel. Together, these works imagined a trans ontology of disembodiment, exploring perceptions and sensations of being out-of-body through sound, movement, and mark-making.

Presented with support from the Government of Canada, Creative Australia, the Jim Marks and Norman Macgeorge Travelling Scholarships (University of Melbourne), the Audain Foundation, and the Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria.

Archie Barry stands in the middle of an arch with their back to the audience. Their left arm is lifted as they run their index finger across the inner walls of the arched doorway. Their fingernails are small coloured pencils. Audience members stand with their backs next to the green wall watching the performance.
Archie Barry, facing the audience, runs their pencil fingernails across the inner walls of the arch. Their right hand is above their head touching the highest point of the arch while their left hand is at the level of their chest touching the lower parts of the arch. Their back is a little arched back and their head is turned towards their right arm. Audience members watch from the side.
Archie Barry stands facing the wall, their face almost touching the surface. They touch the wall with their pencil fingernails, arms to the side of their body. Their mouth is open as if whispering something to the wall.
From behind the archway we see Archie Barry standing facing the wall, almost touching it with their face. Their right arm is extended above their head and with their pencil fingernails they leave markings on the pale green wall.
Archie Barry stands facing the wall. Both their arms are extended to the sides of their body. Archie’s fingernails slightly touch the pale green wall. A spotlight shines on top of them casting shadows around their arms.
From behind the archway and with a sideways perspective, Archie Barry stands in front of the wall, hands to the side of their body close to their face, their fingernails lightly touching the surface, leaving small pencil lines as they move across the wall. Behind them audience members watch the performance sitting on the floor or leaning slightly on the walls.
Archie Barry runs their pencil fingernails across the pale green wall. As they move their hands in circular motions they leave pencil marks across the wall. Their mouth is wide open. Blurred behind them, audience members watch the performance.
A close-up of Archie Barry’s hand. The coloured pencils on their finger nails leave slight streaks of colour on the wall as they move their arms in circular motions.
Archie Barry stands in front of a pale green wall, their back to the camera. As they move their arms across the wall in circular motions, the tips of their fingernails leave pencil marks on the wall. Captivated, audience members sit on the floor watching the performance.
Seen from behind, Archie Barry makes marks on the wall with the small pencil crayons attached to their fingernails. The wall is marked with two coloured circles.
The empty gallery, showing the traces of the performance on the pale green wall. There are multiple circles made from coloured pencils.
An archway leads to a dark room. To the left of the archway, a pale green wall is marked with semicircles drawn with coloured pencils. This is the aftermath of Archie Barry’s performance.
The empty gallery of Western Front. The walls are painted pale green and to the left is an archway that leads to a dark room. On the wall we see pencil marks forming semi circles, almost in the shape of a heart.
A close up showing the inner walls of an arched doorway. Multiple colour pencil marks line the archway.

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Captions:

Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.

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