July 8th -27th
FOUND AND FORMED
Found and Formed brings together three artists working across sculpture, painting, and mosaic. The exhibition invites viewers to slow down and look closer, noticing what has been found, remembered, changed, and given new form. Rooted in transformation, observation, and connection to the coast, the works reflect on what we carry with us, what we leave behind, and what continues to take shape.
Events:
Meet the artists at our artist pARTy, Saturday July 11th, 6-8pm.
What we carry forward.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Phoebe Tsui
Artist Statement:
Phoebe Tsui’s abstract landscape paintings create moments of calm within the busyness of everyday life. Inspired by the coast, shifting skies, soft colours, and distant horizons, her work begins with what is found in the natural world: light, atmosphere, movement, and memory. Through layered colour, texture, and atmospheric forms, Tsui forms these impressions into quiet spaces that invite viewers to pause, exhale, and feel a sense of renewal. Her work reflects the exhibition’s themes of transformation, observation, and connection to the coast, while offering a softer place to release what we carry.
Bio:
Phoebe Tsui is a Vancouver-based fine artist whose abstract landscape paintings offer moments of calm within life’s constant movement. Inspired by the coastlines, shifting skies, and quiet horizons of the West Coast, her work in oil and acrylic explores stillness, renewal, and connection to place.
Phoebe holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia and a Bachelor of Communication Design from Emily Carr University. Before dedicating herself fully to painting, she owned a luxury wedding design company, creating bespoke invitations and stationery for discerning clients. Her paintings are now held in private collections across Canada and the United States.
When she’s not painting, Phoebe can often be found playing by the water and beaches with her young daughter and son, traveling in search of inspiration, or enjoying a good meal with her husband.
Kathryn Beals
Artist Statement
These mosaics are made from broken dishes, reclaimed tile, and pieces of shell and seaglass that we find on our local BC beaches. Piecing them together, I think about the history of these objects over time, and the ways I can fit them together to tell a story. In the intertidal zone, the ocean’s power constantly shapes and erodes the land into new things, as the animals and plants of our island weather the tides and seasons.
As a painter venturing into mosaics, I’ve reflected on my own transformation in a time of change. Translating a complex scene into a few colours sharpens my creativity, since I can’t shade and layer colours the way I would in a painting. I love the challenge of starting backwards from the pieces that I have and making them into something new that honours their original beauty. This body of work is a celebration of evolution, shared history and connection to the West Coast ecosystems that we call home.
Artist Bio
I’m a self taught Bowen Island painter with a background in forest biology. I challenge myself to learn a new medium whenever I can, and I also work in wood, resin, metal leaf and clay. In each medium I keep coming back to my favourite subject, the beauty of the West Coast. This year my focus has been mosaics from reclaimed materials.
Jayme Chalmers
Artist Statement
The portraits in my art practice concentrate on notions of the ‘performative’ and the idea of expressing and changing how we feel through our actions. My research focuses on the development of the modern portrait, with an emphasis on revealing the process and challenging how one views contemporary art, materials, meaning and routine.
My practice has long been rooted in portraiture, from the intimate scale of book sculptures to the monumental presence of sculptural portraits. Across these shifts in form, I return to the same pursuit: to reconsider the portrait not as a fixed likeness but as a performative space where stories, histories, and identities are explored and activated.
Bio:
Jayme Chalmers is a portrait and mixed media artist based on Bowen Island, British Columbia. Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Jayme has exhibited his art all around western Canada over the past 15 years, as well as in London during a residency there in 2013. Jayme studied fine art at the University of Alberta, receiving a BFA in Painting; and then completed his MFA in Painting at the University of Calgary in 2013 where he also published his thesis The Performative Portrait.
Title: Found and Formed at the The Hearth Gallery
By: The Hearth Gallery, Mady Boniface
Found and Formed is the newest exhibition coming to the Bowen Island Hearth Gallery. This show runs from July 8th to the 27th and the Artist pARTy will be held July 11th from 6pm-8pm.
In this exhibit, three artists–Phoebe Tsui, Jayme Chalmers and Kathryn Beals–reflect on what we carry with us, what we leave behind, and what continues to take shape. Join The Hearth as they explore these themes through sculpture, painting and mosaic while referencing a deep connection to the coast.
Phoebe Tsui has been making art since a young age and always knew it was her calling. In times of hardship, she would turn to art as an emotional outlet. She states that her paintings allowed her a moment of rest and contemplation when life felt difficult and out of her control. Phoebe is especially inspired by the West Coast, and the varying shades that make up our skies and oceans. She builds her serene skylines one brush stroke at a time, encoding remarkable detail in her depiction of calm skies and waters. Phoebe invites the viewer to pause and take notice of the subtle colour changes in her pieces. She wants each painting to feel like an exhale, a moment of peace.
Jayme Chalmers is a Bowen resident and a second time artist at The Hearth, with his first show taking place in 2021. Jayme expands upon his impressive face sculptures from his previous show by delving into new materials to bring his subjects to life. Jayme’s process is a crucial aspect to his sculptures, as the materials he layers to form these visages are selected to represent the truest reflection of the subject's soul. He is also interested in creating the valuable from the discarded, as his materials are mainly second hand or salvaged. Through his sculptures, Jayme breathes new life into these resources, carving away the exterior to reveal the personality that lies at the center.
Kathryn Beals also resides on Bowen Island. While Kathryn is proficient in many mediums, this second Hearth exhibition of hers focuses on her mosaic work. Kathryn has a background in forest biology, which she draws upon in her artistic process. In this upcoming show, Kathryn depicts flora and fauna from the West Coast with mostly repurposed fragments. To create her detailed pieces, she sources glass, shell, ceramic, tile and other materials. Each shard is embedded with history and meaning, creating a sculptural memory quilt. Kathryn’s work reflects the beauty and diversity of life found in our surrounding nature, which is mirrored in both her imparted meaning and the material she uses to create her art.
The Hearth, partnered with these three creative voices, welcomes viewers to slow down and take a closer look at what has been found, remembered, changed and given a new form. We are excited for you to see what this show has to offer.