Six artists who are alumni of Vancouver Island University’s visual arts program have their work on display at The View Gallery. The exhibit is titled Evolution: a journey and it showcases the artistic talent that is developed at the university.
One of those artists is Julia Knowlden, whose paintings of mushrooms and fungi on forest floors display the mycelia network that connects them with the trees.
A statement from the gallery says Knowlden’s paintings “hold within them a quiet resistance to the commercial, industrial powers that seek to transform our wild natural places into condos and strip malls.”
Another example of her activism is the textile work Hanging by a Thread, which was created during a protest at Canmore Town Hall to oppose the decision to develop part of the Three Sisters Wildlife Corridor in Alberta.
According to The View Gallery’s curator Chai Duncan, the artists were selected both so they could “show the progress they have made in their respective art practices since graduating from VIU” as well as give current students a first-hand look at “how hard work and commitment can bring real world rewards.”
Georgi Frie’s series of block prints “cinematically portrays the aerial acrobatics performed from a flight school close to her home studio.”
Denise Tierney is a visual artist who works out of a studio in downtown Nanaimo and shares her paintings that “cast her sensitive gaze on life’s rituals,” The View Gallery statement says.
Jason Ritter is a sculpture and 3D designer whose piece, Stolen Identity, reflects his “personal struggle of being taken away from family heritage before birth.”
“How am I to identify with cultures that are alien to me? From my Métis Woodland Cree to roots in European paganism; who am I? The owl teases me with ghosts of the past of who I’m supposed to be … the knurled thorns keep my past from me. How am I to finish when I don’t know the way?” he writes on his Instagram account.
Jadranka Andros has a stunning example of a large flower surrounded by a spiderweb that jumps out of the canvas at you in the exhibit.
“My art is inspired by the idea of Indra’s Net, a web of infinite connections where each jewel reflects all others,” she wrote in her artist statement. “This symbolizes how everything in life is interconnected, with no part existing on its own.”
“Each piece is both a fragment of the whole and a mirror of it, inviting viewers to see themselves as part of a larger, unified world,” she said in a press release.
Ladysmith artist Carra Christy’s paintings “capture the energy of air, water, sound and movement through space,” according to a statement from The View Gallery.
In her artist statement, she wrote that “all aspects of life are connected by a oneness, each governed by its own flow of energy. As an artist, my journey is to visualize and creatively transcribe this ‘essence’ onto a two dimensional surface. Meanwhile, on a spiritual level, I continue to journey towards a better understanding of my personal pathway within this universal interconnectedness.”
“It is incredible to see how each of these six artists have continued to grow in their practice, pushing at the boundaries of their chosen media and subject matter,” Duncan said. “It is an eclectic, visually stimulating showcase, where the diversity of media, style and ideas reflect the varied journeys these six talented VIU alumni have taken since graduation.”
The exhibit runs until Feb. 14 and The View Gallery is open Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
