Jane Irwin, Susan Tooke & Gillian Willans, Oct 11 – Nov 17, 2019

Curated by: Sanjeev Sivarulrasa

From Oct 11 to Nov 17, 2019, Sivarulrasa Gallery is pleased to present CANADIANA II, bringing together three talented artists from Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Alberta.

Toronto-based artist Jane Irwin’s new drawings and watercolour works are inspired by her artist residency in the village of Tilting on Fogo Island, Newfoundland in the Fall of 2018. While the watercolour paintings were done en plein air at her favoured locations, the vertical format drawings were completed at her Toronto studio. A singular detail anchors the bottom of each drawing, while a changing sky graces the top. Between these elements, the sea, the rocks, the fields, and the shore are energetic forms whose edges soften and dissolve, suggesting the dream-like and temporary nature of this experience.

Exploring the woodlands and wilderness areas of Canada’s East Coast, the exhibition includes new paintings by artist Susan Tooke, based in Port Royal, Nova Scotia. Influenced by the fields, marshes, and Acadian forests of her rural environment, her abstracted landscapes show the layering of patterns, textures, and subtle colourations of her surroundings. Whether groundscape or landscape, the paintings call attention to the layers of life, both physical and temporal: elements that appear together for an instant, then dissolve into the past with a fluidity of constant transformation.

Providing a counterpoint to the exterior landscapes is Edmonton-based artist Gillian Willans, who creates paintings of domestic interiors that reflect her personal history as well as her research into the historical tradition of genre painting. From living rooms to kitchens to everyday spaces, her depictions of interiors is both nostalgic and critical, steeped in questions of gender and social structures. Her paintings call attention to the value systems found in gender, family, privacy, intimacy, comfort and luxury, while encouraging viewers to think about their own domestic spaces of past and present. Devoid of figures, the paintings invite us to imagine each private space as a stage on which a range of social interactions play out.

Vernissage/Artists Reception: Saturday Oct 19, 3pm-6pm. Artists Gillian Willans, Jane Irwin, and Susan Tooke will be in attendance.

Call us at 613-256-8033 or email [email protected] to inquire about the works below, or visit our Virtual Gallery.

 

Photos from the vernissage (courtesy Ramond Dubois)