A solo exhibition, March 18 – April 24, 2020

From March 18 to April 24, 2020, Sivarulrasa Gallery is pleased to present Carol Bajen-Gahm: Outports, a solo exhibition of twelve new paintings by Newfoundland-based artist Carol Bajen-Gahm. In Newfoundland, the word “outport” originally referred to an isolated coastal community that could be reached only by boat, but today most are accessible by road. Rather than harvesting cod, most now depend on summer tourism for their existence. Loss of population due to the collapse of the fishery has caused some villages to be abandoned, while others survive with fewer than one hundred souls. Some, like Torbay, have grown due to their proximity to St. John’s.

Based in Torbay Bight, Newfoundland, artist Carol Bajen-Gahm lives surrounded by the awe of nature. “Living here is a constant reminder of the power of the sea and the wind; of ice and snow; of the very movement of the continents”, she notes. In her process, she creates dense abstract patterns by the printing and layering of found materials, using inks, oils, wax and other media. These materials could be seaweed, sand, fishnet, crop netting, barrel hoops, pitchfork tines, grasses, leaves, papers, or string. In three series of works, Torbay Bight, Thrust Toward Spring, and Root Cellar Meditations, she explores the primal landscape and surprising exuberance of her surroundings.

Originally from Massachusetts, Carol Bajen-Gahm now lives in Newfoundland. She has completed artist residencies at the Pouch Cove Foundation, Newfoundland, the Julia and David White Artist Colony in Ciudad Colón, Costa Rica and the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony in California. In 2006 she received a Joan Mitchell grant to attend the Santa Fe Institute of Art, and in 2016 attended the 2 Rooms Contemporary Art Projects Residency in Duntara, a remote outport community on the Bonavista peninsula of Newfoundland. Her works have been exhibited in Canada, the United States, and Austria and are held in many private and corporate collections.

Please Note: We will not have the March 21 Vernissage for this show, to help avoid large gatherings.

Contact the gallery at 613-256-8033 or email us at [email protected] to inquire about the works below. For pricing information, video, additional photos, and free shipping within Canada until April 30, 2020, visit our Virtual Gallery.