Coming Soon: Room at The Top at Xchanges Gallery

Poster setting out details of art show

In Room at the Top I draw on dream imagery to explore the archetype of the witch and its deep associations with feminine power. The work is rooted in a vivid dream of an unusually tall woman with dark hair, dressed in an old-fashioned gown, standing before a top-floor window. This surreal vision inspired a body of work set inside a forgotten building, where strange and unusual plants flourish. Room at the Top delves into themes of female energy, creativity, and power.

You’re invited to join me for the opening reception on January 3rd, 2025, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at Xchanges Gallery. Come explore the artwork and engage in conversation with fellow art lovers in a welcoming and inspiring atmosphere.  I look forward to seeing you there!

Victoria Art Gallery Winter Small Works Show and Sale 2024

I would like to invite you to the Victoria Art Gallery Winter Small Works Show and Sale. I am delighted to have two pieces included in the show. Join me at the Victoria Art Gallery for the opening on November 14th, 5 – 8 PM to see my pieces alongside the work of many talented artists. It’s always a festive occasion. Thank you for your support and I hope to see you there!

 

 

Art Gallery of Greater Victoria Moss Street Paint In 2024

I will be at the TD Art Gallery of Greater Victoria Moss Street Paint In July 20th. I will have original artwork from my Room at the Top Series together with totes, cards and stickers. I will send out a quick note when I know where I am going to be. This is a really fun event for all the family come and say Hi I would love to meet you!

 

Under the Covers

“UNDER THE COVERS.” Presented by The Chapel Gallery, St. Matthias Church, Victoria, BC, March 4 – 20, 2022.

Samantha Agar, Rose Cowles, Rhiannon Davies-Willson, Jessa Dupuis, Jennifer Rae Forsyth, Alesha Fowlie, Jessica Jean Kuyper and Amber Lomax, a group of established and emerging artists, have come together to celebrate the tunnel book.

I am so excited by the work I have seen these ladies creating for this show, they really rose to the challenge of creating in their own personal style and using the format of the tunnel book. There is something magical about peering into a little 3-d world and I can’t wait to see all the ‘books’ together in one place.

I hope you can join us for the opening reception on March 4th 6-8pm or stop by during the show which is open 12-4 fri and sat and 12-3 sun until March 20th.

Winter Small Works Show and Sale

 

I am thrilled to have three of my 100 day project swimmers included in the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria Winter Small Works Show and Sale. Pieces are at a size and price point perfect for gifting or treating yourself. The Show features the work of 70 local artists, so get yourself in the festive mood and go check it out. The show runs from November 19 to Jan 29. 

 

 


Refilling the Well

September has been a month for refilling the well, taking a vacation and visiting art shows. We went to the mainland for a week and squeezed in a visit to the Vancouver Art Gallery. I very much enjoyed seeing the group exhibition Vancouver Special and Jan Wade’s Soul Power.

From Vancouver Special – Manuel Axel Strain – Me cutting through a white lady to reveal my mother picking medicine in our home territory, 2021.

Also this month I attended Rain Cabana-Boucher’s show, Distance, at Xchanges; Her work included a really powerful selection of monochromatic paintings and sculpture depicting among other things her experience of being part British settler and part Michif, memories of home and reflections on homelessness in Vancouver during the pandemic. It was a pleasure to talk with Rain and learn about her practice. With the first Truth and Reconciliation Day a few days away this is a timely show. Her work ‘Repeat’ made comparisons between the hunting of buffalo to near extinction by settlers and history repeating itself with the current decline in salmon stocks. ‘Article 10’, a work designed to be displayed as a flag, highlights the continuing abuse of land rights granted to the First Nations. Truth and Reconciliation Day is about readdressing history and acknowledging the suffering caused to Indigenous Communities, Cabana-Boucher’s work makes it clear that that these injustices are not a thing consigned to the past.

The second show I got to was Fear and Distemper by Kyle Labinsky at Errant Art Space which continues to October 10th. It was really interesting to gain an understanding of the political commentary underpinning the paintings which at first glance seem light and colourful. Many of the paintings were worked on un-stretched canvas which had been hemmed at the edges. I loved the incorporation of sewn elements into the work. Glitter and googly eyes provided an interesting contrast to more serious underlying political narrative.

Kyle Labinsky – Elegy for the Rainbow Coalition

In my studio I continue to experiment on my next series. I am still not quite ready to share this just yet. There has been some slowdown in the work rate in September. I have struggled with poor sleep due to allergies and asthma, which is always a problem this time of year. After a couple of days of heavy rain, my allergies are gone and I am starting to feel like I am coming back to myself again.