Carolina Sanchez de Bustamante is Argentinean-born Vernon –based artist working in ceramics, fibre, and installation. Her installation titled Self-Similarity addresses the issues connected to the interpretation of the human condition in general. The installation consists of approximately 100 anthropomorphic ceramic forms 24 inches high placed in the close proximity to each other in the center of the gallery space. Approximately up to a 1500 strands of optical fibre are suspended from the ceiling directly above the conglomeration of the figures which are illuminated by the coloured light. The optic fibers are in constant slight movement caused by the viewers walking by and by the constant flow of air from the air ducts in the gallery space. The moving and repeating patterns of light serve as a metaphor for a fractal phenomena which repeat themselves on a micro, but also on a macro levels. In this sense the installation as a whole expresses the binary order related to the environment and the human condition.

In the series of UV screen prints titled Border Line, Catherine Bennington aims to address themes surrounding the function of art. The history of visual art has always called upon viewers to interact with works of art through the act of looking. This series utilizes previous notions about the role of the viewer while simultaneously challenging the conventional ways of looking at works of art.

This exhibition of leading Canadian print artists invokes a discussion about the use of text in contemporary art making in-general, and an inquiry where the three artists’ work fit into that tradition. Briar Craig (Associate Professor – Printmaking, UBC Okanagan) is flirting with a sophisticated proto-archaeological iteration of an anti-aesthetic, Ericka Walker’s (Assistant Professor – Printmaking, NSCAD University) work experiments with the immediacy of text, using an apparently political infrastructure and elements of poster propaganda, and Mark Bovey (Associate Professor – Chair of Fine Arts, NSCAD University) is interested in obscuring text with printed layers or, in some recent work, burying the image under the addition of cosmic symbology that elicits an expectation of literal explanation as a means of direction-finding or navigation.

Sheldon Pierre Louis, Mariel Belanger, Dean Louis , Barb Marchand, Csetkwe Fortier, Janine Lott, Cori Derrickson, Pat Raphael, and Ruby Alexis are the contributing artists in the exhibition  titled Legends. Enjoy an evening of contemporary art, appies, beer, wine, and punch from 6 pm – 8 pm on Thursday October 22, at the gallery.

Laura Widmer is a Kelowna-based artist working primarily in relief printmaking. The body of work in the exhibition titled Threshold presents the idea of the ‘threshold’ in a series of a variety of printmaking methods including linocut, woodcut and lithography.  The body of work explores the in-between places of daily existence and the constant negotiation between the environments we inhabit and our personal experiences.  Widmer strives to explore these in-between points and challenge the viewer’s visual perception through her approach to mark making which place the works visually somewhere on the threshold between representation and abstraction.

The LONGVIEW – a format | an aspect | a way of thinking

The Mackie Lake House Foundation (MLHF) and Vernon Public Art Gallery (VPAG) are pleased to announce the 2015 Mackie Lake House Artist-in-Residence Jan Poynter, a Sunshine Coast based artist, illustrator, and educator. Poynter works in a variety of genres which include landscapes, images of urban environments, flora, plein air, and figurative painting in addition to her drawings and illustrations.

Poynter’s exhibition at the Vernon Public Art Gallery will feature a selection of paintings, linocut prints, and sketches produced in her studio and during her residency at the Mackie Lake House where she will be creating from May 11 until May 31, 2015.

The Mackie Lake House Artist-in-Residence program started in 2010 and in 2012 the MLHF created a partnership with VPAG where the Mackie Lake house offers the artist the space and time to create, and the VPAG mounts an exhibition and provides a working space if needed. Since the Artist-in-Residence Program beginning in 2010, the participating artists have been Angie Francis, Edie McIntyre, Joyce Devlin, James Postill, Michael Markowsky, and Jan Poynter.

Pulling Threads was a youth arts engagement project funded by First Peoples Cultural Council. Collaborative mentorships in EcoArt sculpture, movement, and performance had youth embody these events on three significant mountain locations in the northern part of Syilx territory. Enabling youth, artists and elders to leave their mark and create a contemporary traveling song from their mountain adventure. The youths learned about local plants, foods, stories and performance.

Pulling Threads is an exhibition of large format printed digital art  by Dean Louis, and video instillation of the location based performative exercises mentored by Syilx artist Mariel Belanger.  The videos feature performance artist Robyn Kruger with Elder observations and influences in dance, story, history and eco friendly found material sculptures by Madeline Gregorie and Barb Marchand.

This exhibition of leading Canadian print artists invokes a discussion about the use of text in contemporary art making in-general, and an inquiry where the three artists’ work fit into that tradition. Briar Craig (Associate Professor – Printmaking, UBC Okanagan) is flirting with a sophisticated proto-archaeological iteration of an anti-aesthetic, Ericka Walker’s (Assistant Professor – Printmaking, NSCAD University) work experiments with the immediacy of text, using an apparently political infrastructure and elements of poster propaganda, and Mark Bovey (Associate Professor – Chair of Fine Arts, NSCAD University) is interested in obscuring text with printed layers or, in some recent work, burying the image under the addition of cosmic symbology that elicits an expectation of literal explanation as a means of direction-finding or navigation.

This exhibition of leading Canadian print artists invokes a discussion about the use of text in contemporary art making in-general, and an inquiry where the three artists’ work fit into that tradition. Briar Craig (Associate Professor – Printmaking, UBC Okanagan) is flirting with a sophisticated proto-archaeological iteration of an anti-aesthetic, Ericka Walker’s (Assistant Professor – Printmaking, NSCAD University) work experiments with the immediacy of text, using an apparently political infrastructure and elements of poster propaganda, and Mark Bovey (Associate Professor – Chair of Fine Arts, NSCAD University) is interested in obscuring text with printed layers or, in some recent work, burying the image under the addition of cosmic symbology that elicits an expectation of literal explanation as a means of direction-finding or navigation.