Impermanence
This body of work is the result of an exploration into ideas related to our intrinsic connection with nature and the landscape. These ideas have come about following trips to locations throughout B.C. that hold a mystic, ethereal quality which speaks of a timeless consciousness.
The human psyche is a powerful creative force which is interconnected with the physical world. Like the sky, water and landforms, thoughts, hopes, dreams and fears are in constant motion forming, breaking down and transforming in an ongoing act of creation towards ever-changing realities. This quality of impermanence makes for an intangible idea of reality but there is strength and beauty in the ability to change and evolve.
We tend to think of ourselves as existing outside of nature, being separate from it. I would like to invite the viewer to think of their environment from a different perspective, finding power and balance in the mutable, transformational qualities which are as much a part of us as they are in the natural world we observe.
Frances Obie
October 2022
Etherial
I am fascinated by how our ecological identities are formed.
There are many pervasive perspectives that create a binary relationship between nature and people. These threads unconsciously teach us that there are invisible barriers between nature and ourselves. If we shift our perspective and see ourselves as embedded within a large tapestry of reciprocal relationships, how does the narrative change? Conserving nature becomes less about protecting other forms of life and shifts to an understanding that what stands to be lost is ourselves.
In our current era there is a constant barrage of warnings about the crisis of the natural world. At the same time, there is a growing movement to recognize the extraordinary benefits of time spent in nature. It is my hope that we raise a generation of children who are resilient and creative in their desire to heal these relationships. I believe this starts by reminding people to look at the natural world with the curiosity of a child. To inspire them to remember childhood play immersed in the wonder of the outdoors and encourage them to provide those same opportunities to our children.
In my current body of work, I hope to highlight the natural beauty thriving within human dominated landscapes. To emphasize that we are a thread within the system of nature not outside it. My paintings are pieces of my ecological identity and explore internal and external dialogues. I hope they resonate with your own memories. I hope they remind you to marvel at the natural world we are a part of and perhaps to question where strength lies. When we acknowledge with gratitude the beauty and wonder of the natural tapestry we are woven into we can heal mental disparagement and inspire ecological hope, love, and responsibility.”
Elizabeth Hutchinson
October 2022
Light Dance
This series of paintings explores a relationship between two people across the country of Canada, between Ontario and British Columbia. The series of paintings animates their personal journeys as they travel towards one another on their life paths. The Northern Lights act as a constant backdrop for the story, starting out dim and faint on the edges of the series, and then becoming more vivid and colourful towards the centre, as the night sky becomes darker and the two characters meet in the middle at Windfall Lake, BC. The meeting between the two people proves to be a lasting bond.
My work in general is focused on the relationship between human beings and the land. In painting, the land can function as an allegory in storytelling, which I like to play with, yet at the same time I am interested in the ways in which we currently ‘flatten’ the landscape into aesthetic imagery and decorative backdrops to our activities in cell phone pictures and snap photography. The landscape, to me, functions as both an immersive living environment to be interacted with, and a flat decorative vista of beauty to be admired and to be photographed in front of. I like to play with this duality in my paintings.
Alex Landon Richardson
October 2022
