The Comox Valley Art Gallery is hosting an opening public reception on Thursday evening, April 30, for three new shows that investigate relationships between research, documentation and contemporary art practices.
The pre-show event will start at 6 p.m. with an informal artist talk by recent BFA graduates Sylwia Gustyn, Natasha Ouimette and Terri Stelfox, along with faculty and staff from North Island College/Emily Carr Fine Arts Programs.
The pre-show talk offers the public a glimpse into the diverse ways in which artists make their work, their education experiences and the issues that inspire their production. The opening reception will run from 7-9 p.m.
The talk and reception are family friendly, free and open to the public.
As You Are
As You Are is a group show featuring local emerging artists Gustyn, Ouimette and Slelfox, who have earned their degree from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design external BFA program, offered in partnership with the fine arts department at North Island College campus, here in the Comox Valley.
Like many contemporary artists, these three graduating students utilize a variety of processes in their art making including painting, drawing, printmaking, video, image software and bookmaking.
Sylwia Gustyn’s prolific body of printmaking will be on exhibit as part of this show. Gustyn’s work focuses on an experimental approach to printmaking, influenced and inspired by her extensive research into quantum mechanics and the work of sociologist and philosopher Bruno Latour.
Sidescroll is Natasha Ouimette’s extensive media work based on a daily drawing challenge that she initiated in September, 2014. The artwork was produced using digital imaging software which was then assembled into a scrolling video, representing a snapshot of this past year of school.
Terri Stelfox’s project “Verna’s Bicycle,” is a personal narrative that documents changes in a family member’s life. Working with solar plates to create intaglio and relief prints, Stelfox then combines these with hand drawn imagery in the creation of a large format handmade book.
re.search
Concurrent with the BFA exhibition, CVAG is presenting re.search, a group show by NIC and ECUAD fine arts staff and faculty including: Jeff Brett, Linda Perron, Joyce Lindemulder, Sandra Semchuk, Sara Vipond, Gordon Hutchens, Carrie Tannant, Alan Burgess and Scott Bullick.
“The show is a reframing of exhibition making as a community of practice, gathering together the creative inquiry of 10 visual artists/art educators/researchers and turning the gallery presentation space into a laboratory for experimentation and inquiry,” offers CVAG curator Angela Somerset. “The artists are working independently and collaboratively and the project will evolve during the run of the show.”
Pathways
The third project on display at CVAG is a group show entitled Pathways, by children from three local early learning centres including Roseberry Preschool, Brooklyn StrongStart and Tigger Too preschool. The groups have created an exhibition of their research around the theme of pathways, in response to encounter with local and imaginary flora and fauna, using a diverse range of approaches and media.
All three shows will run at CVAG from May 1 to June 6. The gallery will be open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except for statutory holidays.
The CVAG gift shop is open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more details about shows and events at the gallery, please visit www.comoxvalleyartgallery.com