Connecting the Lines, the second annual Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transgender, Queer, Two-Spirit (LGBTQ2) art show in a variety of mediums opens during Pride Month on June 7.
This is also the second annual experience for curator Anna Nobile, who describes the concept behind the exhibition: “Four Coast artists explore the boundaries of identity and creative expressions and the places they join to form community across the lines – family lines, ethnic lines, gender lines, blurred lines … Each individual line connects with another at a point of intersection.”
Last year Nobile curated an inaugural queer art show, Refraction, with the work of eight artists. Four of those artists agreed to be on the jury for the 2017 show and candidates were selected from a call she put out last year. The Arts Centre then carries out its own jurying process.
Connecting the Lines features the work of Trisha Joel (fabric/inks), Cindy Riach (oils), Kim Oka (mixed media) and troch (photography).
Trisha Joel’s work “springs from a love of printing fabric – be it recycled bed sheets, old sheer curtains, worn linen tablecloths or silks – and a love of all things botanical.”
Painter Cindy Riach works from life as much as possible. Although the Gibsons’ resident is noted for her paintings of boats and landscapes, for this show she has chosen a different theme.
“I am painting portraits of people in our community (LGBTQ2),” she says in her artist’s statement. “I’m trying to express both the diversity within our community and the familiarity. Sometimes we look different; sometimes we don’t. What’s important is that we are connected in and out of our community and that we celebrate diversity in all its appearances. We are who we are; individually and collectively … different, just like everybody else.”
The work of mixed-media artist Kim Oka is influenced by botany, anatomy and other natural sciences and uses encaustic media from local bees, mushroom dyes and pigments as well as conventional mediums.
The impetus for photographer troch’s current series of photographs is Ursula K. Le Guin’s quote, “Each of us gets lost in the forest every night, alone.” The artist’s photographs are shot mainly with a plastic Holga camera or pinhole cameras, several of which are handmade.
“Square images with corner vignettes and a soft edge focus that often mimics human vision greatly intrigues me,” she said. “I work with film and the traditional silver gelatin print, as well as older alternative processes such as cyanotypes and pinhole photography.” She opened her gallery, Laughing Hummingbird Arts, in Earl’s Cove in 2013.
Opening reception for the show is on Wednesday, June 7 from 7 to 9 p.m. All are invited regardless of orientation. You can meet the artists on Sunday, June 11 at 1 p.m. when Oka demonstrates her works in ink, and on Saturday, June 17 when troch discusses pinhole cameras and other alternative photographic techniques.
As part of Pride celebrations on the Coast, a second Pride Reception is being held June 22 from 7 to 9 p.m. For more information, see Facebook.com/connecting the lines 2017 or Sunshinecoastartscouncil.com
