The secondary school division of the Young People’s Own Show is presently on display at the Doris Crowston Gallery at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre in Sechelt.
This year, students from Chatelech, Elphinstone, Pender Harbour and the Sunshine Coast Alternative School are showing their best work.
After not participating last year, Chatelech is back with several beautifully rendered pieces including a low chroma portrait of Miley Cyrus by Haley Steel.
The Grade 8 and 9 students have displayed work that explores the concept of positive and negative shapes. Noteworthy examples are Birds by Megan Copping and Hollie Piepjohn’s Parisian scene.
Pender Harbour’s Teaguen Craig and Dani Pazurs have painted female portraits in the Fauve style, yet are reminiscent of the work of Modiglianni. They certainly catch the viewer’s eye from across the room.
Elphinstone student Avin Neville has several mono chromatic portraits that are masterful in the capture of light on the subject’s face. It seems that the very features of the models are carved out of the darkness.
Most of the high schools are showing paintings done with acrylic on canvas, with the notable difference being the works of the Sunshine Coast Alternative School. Here one finds, in addition to paintings, works done in India ink, pencil crayon, charcoal and a large group of photographs.
As you enter the gallery, your eye is immediately drawn to a painting called Wolf Shaman by Kami Seibert. This painting is a beautiful portrait of a woman wearing a wolf headdress superimposed on a background showing the galaxy with millions of stars. The eyes of the wolf and shaman are painted so realistically that they seem to see right into one’s soul.
Sunshine Coast Alternative School student Javier Manitobinas has the only mixed media piece in the show. Short Circuit is a diptych painted primarily in red and green. His use of complimentary colors really make this painting pop!
In addition to the color, Javier has incorporated an actual computer motherboard into his piece, making his work the only one in the show to make use of found objects.
The secondary part of the Young People’s Own Show is one of the most anticipated art shows of the year.
The exhibit continues until June 1.
