God Complex
How do we inhabit and integrate our vulnerable bodies in a patriarchal landscape? How do we find and create safe spaces? How can you separate the man from his art? We believe in art’s ability and function to help people find places of safety, spirituality, shared humanity, care, and love—so is it morally responsible to separate an artist’s ethics and actions from the art they are creating?
God Complex is an animated music video from artists Eva Dominelli and Ryan Quiring, and the second single and title track from Gentle Party’s sophomore album. This finely textured song and video blends the darker side of myths and fairy tales with classical inspired indie pop. Together the band and artists have created a piece which contemplates the personified role of the patriarchy, colonialism, capitalism, and the relationship between creator and creation.
Artist Bios
Eva Dominelli is an Illustrator, Animator and Visual Artist. She graduated in 2017 from Emily Carr University of Art + Design with a BFA in Illustration. Eva has been creating and exhibiting work since 2006, in a variety of visual art forms including illustration, directing music videos, animation, and print design. Her illustration work has been featured in prominent Canadian publications including Discorder, Blank Spaces Magazine, Feels Magazine, Broken Pencil, UPPERCASE, SAD Mag, and Montecristo Magazine. Eva has created work for many Vancouver musicians including Jo Passed, Buckman Coe, Only a Visitor, and Gentle Party. She has self-published several artist’s books, including her 2020 zine, Things Men Say to Me at Work, winner of Broken Pencil’s Art Zine of the Year.
Ryan Quiring is a motion and graphic designer who has created live music visuals for musicians at performances around Vancouver including the Roundhouse Performance Centre, China Cloud Studios, VIVO, and The Cultch.
Described as “lush and somewhat mischievous, yet shimmering with melancholy” (Dave O Rama, BC Musician Magazine), Gentle Party is a chamber pop trio that pioneers an expansive sound distinct to their West Coast roots. The distinct voices of each member triangulates to create a sound that is dream-like, pandemonious, playful, and evocative. Harpist Elisa Thorn (The Giving Shapes, HUE) and Juno-award winning violinist Meredith Bates (Pugs and Crows) weave a lush bed of strings with acoustic virtuosity and electronic processing for the hauntingly evocative voice of Jessicka (Hunting, Jessicka) to rest on. Their debut album, Jouska (2017) was longer-listed for the Polaris Prize and enjoys radio play on CBC. Their sophomore album, God Complex, was released on February 17, 2022 and has been described as a “startlingly confident and accomplished second album” (Joseph Stannard, The Wire).