OPENS July 29th - August 16th
Gathered in nature, translated through form.
What We Carry / What Carries Us brings together the work of Rebecca Santry, Eileen Kiyonaga, and Brent Comber is an exhibition shaped by movement, material, and the relationship between structure and flow.
Working across painting and sculpture, the exhibition explores how experiences of being in nature become translated and carried through making. Inspired by moments of immersion outdoors and the restorative energy held within those experiences, each artist responds through their own medium - creating forms that hold memory, sensation, and connection.
Inspired by moments of being in nature, Rebecca Santry’s recent paintings and mixed media works build on ideas explored in her last series Soft Fascination. Fluid fields of colour and movement are interrupted by harder sculptural lines and openings of exposed raw canvas, creating a dialogue between gesture and structure. These spaces suggest moments beyond the visible, reflecting on what remains after an experience in nature, not the landscape itself, but fragments of memory, sensory impressions, and traces gathered outdoors, leaving imprints that settle and continue to shape the work.
Eileen Kiyonaga’s multidisciplinary practice explores subtle structures and rhythms beneath the visible surface of the natural world. Through layered materials, quiet forms, and restrained gestures, her work draws attention to the elements of connection that often go unnoticed; revealing subtle shifts, patterns, and the quiet forces that shape our experience of nature.
Brent Comber’s vessels ground the exhibition through material presence and form. Guided by a respect for the inherent character of wood, his practice reveals rather than conceals grain, variation, and the marks left by time, allowing the material to carry its own history.
Together, the works consider how organic forms can capture and transmit restorative energy found in nature. Through line, grain, gesture, and form, What We Carry / What Carries Us invites viewers to reflect on what shapes us, what sustains us, and what remains long after the moment has passed.
EVENTS:
Artist pARTy: August 1st, 6-8pm. Please join us!
What We Carry / What Carries Us
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
What Remains
Inspired by moments of being in nature, Rebecca Santry’s recent paintings build on ideas explored in her previous series, Soft Fascination. Rooted in the concept of soft fascination; the gentle form of attention associated with restorative natural environments; this evolving body of work shifts from observation toward memory. As her practice continues to evolve, Santry has enjoyed exploring a combination of expressive mark-making, colourful palette, and multiple layers, using process as a way to reflect the complexity of lived experience. Rather than depicting the landscape itself, she explores what remains after an experience in nature has passed: fragments of place, sensory impressions, shifting light, movement, and moments experienced outdoors that continue to settle and shape us over time.
Layered fields of colour, texture and movement unfold through a vibrant palette inspired by the natural world, while areas of negative space and layered passages create a dialogue between gesture and structure. These compositional shifts reflect felt experiences of being in nature; the rhythms of movement and calm that settle over time into memory. These quieter spaces offer moments of pause and reflection, holding traces of sensory impressions and fragments gathered outdoors; moments that continue to echo through the work. Through an intuitive process of revealing and concealing, the paintings explore the lasting imprints the natural world leaves on our wellbeing, sense of place and lived experience, alongside the forms and rhythms of landscape that continue to linger long after the moment has passed.
Artist Bio
Working with acrylics on canvas and paper, Rebecca captures the layered movement and quiet majesty of the Pacific Northwest. Inspired by her daily immersion in nature, her abstract works reflect the forms, textures, and rhythms of her surroundings. Originally from the UK, her move to Squamish, BC sparked a deep connection to the region’s landscape and creative community, which continues to shape her practice. Through her art, Rebecca explores nature as both inspiration and therapy - a space to reflect, play, and invite viewers into a shared sense of calm and wonder.
Rebecca Santry
Artist Statement
Brent Comber
Artist Statement
My practice explores generation, connection, permanence, and impermanence. Embedded with memory, the materials I work with—wood, predominantly distinct tree forms, and light—are elemental to the story being told, with their story and my own inextricably linked to the Pacific Northwest. This place, as a hysical environment and a sensorial experience, has shaped who I am and how I see as an artist. Sculptural and often large-scale or inherently purposeful, my work invites the viewer to reimagine their relationship with the natural world.
Artist Bio
Artist Brent Comber inhabits the space between expression and function to create storied works reflective of the Pacific Northwest’s ephemeral landscape.
Eileen Kiyonga
Artist Statement
Currently in my work I’m very drawn to the challenge of blurring the lines between two- dimensional and three-dimensional form while maintaining a calming, simple aesthetic. Sometimes this looks like the subtle building of energy through texture and colour change, working towards a more dramatic sculptural component. Other times, it’s through the use of repetitive simple forms and lines that gradually sway or change in some way to convey an image or feeling of movement. I appreciate that this challenge is so focused on experimentation and play. It allows me to work with the various skills I’ve acquired to this point and truly build my works of art through a process that feels authentic and engaging.
I’m very inspired by wabi-sabi principles as well as minimalism and organic architecture and design. I love looking for inspiration in a wide range of other mediums- ceramics, fibre arts, architecture and furniture design.
What continues to drive me is the quest to distill visually and emotionally, what it is about being in nature that fills us with a sense of being calm and connected, and curious about our surroundings. My aim is to ingrain the sense of exploration and journey into every piece I create, inviting that same sense of curiosity to the viewer.
ARTIST BIO
Eileen is a multidisciplinary artist that uses predominantly wood and acrylic to communicate the fluid lines and natural geometries she finds so appealing in nature. Trained in industrial design as well as fine furniture and joinery, Eileen has a sharp eye for details and is always working towards creating a feeling of calm attentivity with her work. She wants her creations to invoke a peaceful, natural sense that draws people into the smaller particulars. Although trained in precision, it’s the softer and perfectly imperfect lines and shapes that occur in nature that come forward in her work. Guided by experimentation, unpredictability and process are embraced, allowing for a deeper sense of connection.
The Hearth Gallery Holds What We Carry / What Carries Us
By: The Hearth Gallery, Mady Boniface
The Hearth Gallery would like to welcome you to our exhibit, What We Carry / What Carries Us.
In this show, Rebecca Santry, Eileen Kiyonaga, and Brent Comber explore the movement, material, structure and flow that makes up the natural world. The exhibit takes place from July 29th to August 17th. The Artist pARTy is August 1st from 6pm-8pm.
Rebecca Santry is UK born and now resides in Squamish. Her paintings are largely inspired by the forests that surround her Squamish home. Recently, she suffered an injury that has made it difficult for her to go out into nature and to create her art. Because of this, Rebecca’s process has evolved. Like her work that focuses on natural movement and transitions, she too has had to shift. Her art now features gestural mark making and abstract remnants of her memories of outside. Capturing moments like clouds passing, shadows shifting and the rushing of water by the traces they leave behind. Rebecca invites you to join her on her healing journey as she imbues inspiration and a love for nature in every piece.
Eileen Kiyonaga is also a Squamish based artist and has worked closely with Rebecca before. Eileen has a past in industrial design and furniture making. This experience feeds into her work as she juxtaposes clean visuals with the variability of natural materials. She explores this tension with 2D and 3D blended pieces. Eileen is inspired by principles of minimalism and wabi-sabi aesthetics when creating her art. Thus, contrasting weathered aspects of nature with her soft muted pallets and textures. Through her mixed paint and wood pieces she creates light airy forms that concern the more delicate aspects of wood, each piece a reflection of the emotionality of being outside. Eileen’s work embodies this in its calming and meditative presentation.
Brent Comber is a globally recognized artist from Vancouver. His preferred medium is sustainably sourced wood, which he acquires from local lumber industry off-cuts. Brent brings the West Coast to an international stage through his use of BC lumber and his fearless adventurous spirit. He started his artistic journey outside in the creation of garden landscapes.
From this experience, he noted a disparity in furniture and sculptures suited for the gardens he was creating and began carving his own pieces. Brent is inspired by the ephemerality of natural powerhouses like the ocean and the weather. In his pieces, he harnesses the beauty embedded in the wood to create story driven art. In this upcoming show, Brent works with cedar to create woven vessels reminiscent of basketry to evoke functionality and familiarity in his wooden installations.
Experience the tranquil beauty of the West Coast by taking a moment to stop by this exhibition and bask in its depiction of nature. We hold space for you here.