MOTHER | NATURE
MOTHER | NATURE
" Mother Nature re-examines, reflects on, and celebrates these intertwined and vital forces, in these times of shifting views of our relationship to nature, each other, and ourselves. Launching soon after Earth Day and running through Mother's Day, the exhibition showcases six visual artists and one music composer, all mothers on Bowen island, each responding to these themes in their own voice."
NEW WORK BY
Anja Jane
Di
Eleanor Rosenberg
Janet Esseiva
Kathryn Beals
Nova Pon ○ new music
Paula Love
APRIL 24 until MAY 13, 2024.
Artist pARTy: SATURDAY APRIL 27, 6 - 8 pm. FACEBOOK EVENT
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES:
ANJA JANE:
In her nature scenes of luscious forests, vibrant flowers, whimsical creatures and sun-kissed mountains over turquoise waters, the folksy charm of her Norwegian and Polish heritage intertwines with the breathtaking landscape of the Pacific Northwest – now home for her.
Being kind to the environment is an integral part to the business using her illustrations to inspire wonder in others. So they too will become passionate and protect this beautiful planet we all share. Her unique colour and pattern reflects her 13 year experience as a textile designer in fashion print studios in New York, Italy and London.
The MOTHER | NATURE body of work is about discovering the beauty of our interconnected existence. My wish for the viewer is to feel connected to the magic that has guided me through my matrescence journey. Let us all walk gently and respectfully, bowing in reverence to our first mother, Mother Earth.
Ceremony Inspired by sailing trips when my son was a baby, we would blow blessings and prayers into rose petals while singing to the ocean, seeking guidance. 'Surrender,' she said, 'surrender to the ocean.' Trust that you are safe on your sailboat and magic is in the air.
Instagram @anjajane
DI:
Beauty of nature is the key inspiration behind Di’s contemporary west coast acrylic paintings. With a focus on light, color and movement Di seeks to reduce the endless detail of life into simple form and palette, allowing viewers’ imaginations to fill in details of time and place. The artist sees herself as a filter; passing images repeatedly through the lens of her mind as she translates the world around her.
Not bound by any school or tradition she simply creates what pulls at her heart until it is put down on canvas. Starting with a scene or composite image she peels back layers of detail, emboldens color and smooths shapes until she is ready to transfer onto canvas. By adding thin layers of a single acrylic color she builds until the medium is opaque yet smooth- showing the texture of the canvas below. Clean lines are achieved by a steady hand and are one of the most consistent features of her compositions.
Much of Di’s focus is on the unique species that inhabit the coastlines of British Columbia. Growing up on the west coast she has developed an intimate connection with forest, mountains, sea and the animals that call it home. She clearly conveys this reverence for nature in her paintings, highlighted by her commitment to bringing attention to nature conservation.
The artist lives and works on Bowen Island and in Victoria BC, Canada, part of the traditional territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Shíshálh, and Lək̓ʷəŋən First Nations.
www.artbydi.ca @art_by_di
ELEANOR ROSENBERG:
From the rainforests of Bowen Island to the clay cliffs of Whitehorse, Eleanor Rosenberg splits her time and inspiration between the North and the Pacific Northwest. Eleanor Rosenberg is an award-winning illustrator. Her editorial drawings and paintings illuminate the defining characteristics of small everyday moments that often fall between the cracks of more celebrated milestones.
The Mad Marker As a three year old her mother saw her scrawling furiously all over a page with a red felt marker. For reasons we don't understand her mom kept the "drawing" and titled it 'The Mad Marker'. Eleanor found it in the family files decades later. Nowadays the Mad means a little frenzied and a little angry – ehem, passionate – and to be a Marker means to record her experience with marks on a page.
Instagram @themadmarker
JANET ESSEIVA:
Janet was born in South Africa and emigrated to Canada with her young family in 1998. Art has always been part of her life. She attended art school and took workshops and classes at night, while working in Information Technology in South Africa. She moved to Bowen Island in 2005, where she keeps her home studio. Janet started offering workshops in 2010 which became a sold out hit year after year, with her very accessible teaching style. Her work has been presented by several galleries in the Vancouver-Whistler area in the last decade. Janet strives to continually reinvent herself as an artist, challenging the limits of both her skill and her preferred medium, acrylics.
Instagram @bigbrush_janet
KATHRYN BEALS:
Kathryn Beals grew up on north Vancouver Island, and its magical forests imprinted on her for life. As a young child, Kathryn searched for fairies in the woods, a curiosity that inspired a future career in forest biology. After earning a degree in forestry and working in silviculture and plant research, she decided to come full circle, back to painting trees. The belief in fairies evolved into a reverence for the forest, and all the hidden and beautiful things we have yet to understand about it.
Now raising three island kids, Kathryn wanted to revisit her childhood fascination with the forest floor. Her MOTHER | NATURE body of work is about childhood wonder and our connection to nature. These paintings tell a story about the ongoing life cycles below the canopy, which support the amazing biodiversity of our island forests.
The Forest Floor series incorporates some of the biology Kathryn has learned along the way, through the lens of a child’s imagination. These acrylic and gold leaf paintings feature many local species of plants, wildlife, invertebrates and even some hidden fairies, to honour her connection to the forest as a child. With each generation we understand more about the ways the parts of a forest are connected, and how important it is to preserve these ecosystems for future generations.
Instagram @kathrynbeals
NOVA PON:
As long as she can remember, composer Nova Pon has been striving to understand the world, to seek out harmony and beauty, and to create things to bring those together. Early on she wondered about the power of music – what was going on in it? What could it do, and how? That curiosity led her through some four decades of making and studying music, including through several university degrees. She has composed works that have been performed across the world for orchestra, wind band, film, and soloists and ensembles of all sorts, including on western classical, world, electronic, and recently invented or found instruments. Her music draws inspiration from natural and inner worlds, striving for emotional, philosophical journeys. Along with also being a flutist, she continues to follow her curiosity and inspiration in many directions, especially with her husband and daughter on Bowen Island.
"Symphonies of Mother and Child" is a 40-minute musical composition in 5-movements for chamber orchestra, inspired by my bond with my child. A major theme of the work is interconnection and attunement, between both mother and child, and with Nature and the universe that enfolds them. The just-released album of the same name features an original painting by Kathryn Beals, also on display in the MOTHER | NATURE exhibition. The piece, and related music of mine, can be listened to during the show, and CDs and score books will be available.”
Instagram @novaponmusic
Click the image below to hear the music.
Link to the album, including statements about each movement: https://redshiftmusicsociety.bandcamp.com/album/symphonies-of-mother-and-child
PAULA LOVE:
Nature is in a constant state of Nurturing throughout all the different relations that exists. Paula Love explores through her art and visions The intimate connection through different species nurturing each other co-creating and helping to maintain the delicate balance in the ecosystems as well as the spiritual connection between humans and the natural world and how we are deeply nurtured by nature with our interactions with it.
Being amused by the natural world, Paula Love explores through art her deep connection with nature as a spiritual practice. She was born in Chile in 1970 and the images of the beautiful and magnificent Andes are one of her most vivid memories from a young age. Since early life, drawing was one of her favourite things to do together with daydreaming of going for long walks in the forest.
Instagram/facebook @paulalove.art
