Two New Brunswick artists explore how nature inhabits us, and how we inhabit nature. For Jennifer Pazienza and Paul Édouard Bourque, the exhibition is the fourth in a series of four that presents a dialogue between and among their work. Their discussion centers on how individual and co-created artistic identity, memory, and time can influence art. Pazienza’s landscapes and Bourque’s images evoke a heightened understanding of the relationship between people and nature.
Exhibition Schedule
Amber Young: Wildflowers & Water
May 2 – June 7
Opening, Friday, May 2, 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Amber Young’s lyrical paintings depict how flowers expressively growing up out of wild fields or along the edges of ponds and streams can reflect in the water and grow up into expansive open skies. Inspired by her travels in Asia and her Canadian roots, the artist hopes to combine her love of water and water reflections with an exploration of blossoms and wild foliage and the feeling of being within nature.
CLASS: EarthFest w/ Charlotte County Students
June 13 – June 28
Opening Friday, June 13, 5:00 – 7:00 pm
An annual exhibition of artwork by Charlotte County students of all ages. This year, young artists are focusing on the theme of Earthfest in their art, for example, protecting and preserving our planet, helping to build a sustainable future for all, and celebrating Earth and all living beings.
Terry Graff: Magpie in a Multiverse
July 4 – August 30
Opening, Friday, July 4, 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Terry Graff uses found objects to create works of assemblage art free of expense. Magpie in a Multiverse challenges notions of throw-away culture, turning scavenged recycled objects into reflections of nature and wildlife. Echoed by eras of material scarcity, Graff’s work reinforces the idea that objects can always be repurposed and reused, challenging the
obsolescence of everyday items.
Lesley Bartlett: Living Large
July 4 – August 2
Opening, Friday, July 4, 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Lesly Bartlett’s Living Large combats conventional standards of beauty in modern media and art by celebrating the beauty of large bodies. Representing characteristics of large bodies that are commonly approached with negative sensitivity, Bartlett’s work dismantles these fears, reinforcing the reality of beauty in average body types. As a result, Living Large reconnects the romanticism of figure painting with real-life representations of people.
Kyla Chung: The Art of Balance
August 8 – August 30
Opening Friday, August 8, 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Through abstract painting, Kyla Chung explores the complexity of the unseen force we know as Karma from the Buddhist tradition and represents the return of our actions using circular forms and figure depictions. The Art of Balance represents the emotions felt from both positive and negative karma and invites viewers to reflect on the implications of their everyday decisions.
David Zsako: Narratives in Bloom
September 5 – October 25
Opening Friday, September 5, 5:00 – 7:00 pm
David Zsako’s Narratives in Bloom uses ethically sourced flora and fauna remains as material for large-scale photographic collages and sculpture. Inspired by the palette of the natural world, and its ecological and cultural significance, Narratives in Bloom portrays the subtle beauties of preserved natural life, bridging the gap between nature and civilization.
Brian Francis: Indigenous Blue
September 5 – October 25
Opening Friday, September 5, 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Indigenous Blue by Brian Francis shines light on the natural and spiritual significance of the colour blue within Indigenous cultures. Through a diverse collection of works, Francis celebrates how blue connects the life-giving traits of the sky and water, with its ceremonial uses of prayer and meditation. Indigenous Blue invites viewers to find peace within this deeply rooted significance, and to experience first-hand the meditative power of the colour blue.
Lucas Morneau: Ballad of the Queer Mummer
October 10 – November 9
Opening Friday, October 10, 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Lucas Morneau’s Ballad of the Queer Mummer critiques homophobia in Canadian and Newfoundland culture by addressing similarities between drag art, and the Newfoundland Christmas tradition of Mummering, the act of going door to door in costume and entertaining neighbours. By way of Morneau’s alter-ego, The Queer Mummer, photographic diptychs and crocheted costumes are used to celebrate how mummering is a queer performance act, blurring the gender binary.