I am pleased to announce the opening of my newest show.
For Immediate Release:
Two new exhibitions open at the Lake Country Art Gallery - Oct 8th. 2014
The Lake Country Art Gallery is pleased to present two concurrent exhibitions from October 8th - November 15th, 2014. The first exhibition, “Through the Strange - new essences, making the world anew”, presents work by Vancouver-based artist Stephanie Jonsson and Jill Ehlert of Cobble Hill, on Vancouver Island. The second exhibition, “Airport Visions”, presents works by local artist John van der Woude.
“Through the Strange - new essences, making the world anew” is an exhibition of mixed media work that encompasses drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics and textiles by Jill Ehlert and Stephanie Jonsson.
Jill Ehlert’s works take the form of intricately layered drawings and collages that pull from a wide range of interests: nature, geology, organic forms, cellular structures, cycles of metamorphosis and regeneration. Objects from the natural world and manufactured objects are placed side-by-side, in direct relation, to draw attention to the discovery of similar patterns and forms. In her collages, actual objects, like books and lace, are incorporated into drawn and painted compositions.
In Stephanie Jonsson’s work, there is a similar interest in natural forms, which she transposes into ceramic and textile sculptural pieces. She plays with the contrasts of hard against soft, furry against cold and sharp to create new hybrid plant / animal creatures that are both familiar and newly strange.
This exploration of finding the strange in the familiar is extended in “Airport Visions”, in a solo exhibition of photographic works by Kelowna artist John van der Woude. van der Woude has taken between 700 - 800 screen captures from Google earth per piece of the world’s busiest airports and stitched them together to create composite photographic images that explore ideas of security vs. accessibility and the aerial aesthetics and visual appeal of how airports look from sky.
All the artists will be present at the opening, on Wednesday, Oct 8th from 6 – 8 PM. Jonsson and Ehlert will be on hand for an artist talk on Thursday, Oct 9th at 12 noon. They will speak further about their work in this exhibition, as well as previous work. van der Woude will have an artist talk on Saturday, Nov 1st at 3PM. All events are free and open to the public.
Katie Brennan, Curator