Thieves take note — there are no gold bars in the current exhibition titled Azo Gold at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery. But the five-member group show is golden nonetheless.
Azo gold, a metallic paint, is an important colour in the painting palette, said artist Sandy Kay.
She has lived in Halfmoon Bay since last summer; before that, she owned a gallery on Granville Island where she worked in various mediums and came to know the other artists who are now in the show. Jane Richardson is also a recent transplant to the Coast and is a former gallery owner and producer of the Artists of British Columbia series of books. Veronica Aimone of Vancouver is the show’s sculptor, Teressa L. Bernard is a painter from New Westminster and Lori Sokoluk from Vancouver uses paint, texture and collage in her work.
“We’re all grown-up women and we don’t bring our egos with us,” Kay laughed.
The show is dazzling, as you would expect from the theme, and it is also very professional in its execution. Textures and glazing is Kay’s forte and she shows a specific piece that has 20-25 layers of metallic glazing on it. A Golden Beach, as it is titled, was visualized in her imagination, but another painting, a four-set rendering of the moonlight reflecting on a calm sea is what she sees from her window.
Aimone exhibits two sculptures of a figure at rest after a strenuous hike. One is in gold, one in black. She asks which attracts the eye. No prizes for the correct answer — our fascination with glitter is legend. Another work by Aimone is interesting — a set of tiny Chinese slippers, the ones worn by women whose feet were bound. Ironically they were once referred to as “golden.” In this case, Aimone has made them from natural materials that somehow subdue the cruelty.
Sokoluk’s piece My Ancestors’ Fertile Ground in acrylic and metallic leaf is another highlight of the show. “Gold was my starting point,” she writes, “from which I broadened my theme to include other precious things hidden in the earth.”
Bernard also interprets the gold theme loosely in Cave Wall #1, an acrylic collage that suggests an ancient cave painting. Richardson’s five-panel colourful piece titled Month of June tells a story in paint. She tells it again in accompanying text — about one of those horrific months in which, while in the midst of moving house she learns that her parents are suffering ill health and a cousin has cancer. The chaos of the painting depicts her anxiety, but also optimism for the future.
On Saturday, April 18 at noon Jane Richardson will introduce herself with a short discussion of her artwork. From 12:30 to 2 p.m. she will host a Creative Doodle workshop — a relaxing drawing technique that complements one’s journal, design or decorating work. And on Sunday April 19 from 12 to 3 p.m. stop by for a visit with Bernard. Art talks continue on Saturday, April 25 and Sunday, April 26 with Sokoluk and Aimone.
Kay has already offered a demo session at the gallery, but she will be presenting a workshop in her studio from June 22-26 to demonstrate the techniques of layering (www.sandykayart.com).
The show continues until April 26 at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery.
