U of L BFA graduate April Matisz presents her first solo exhibition at the Trianon Gallery tonight, Feb. 13.
Her exhibition blends her background in biology with her love for ecology, nature and Puerto Rico. She earned a BA in biology from the University of Victoria and worked as a field researcher.
“That also influenced me,” Matisz said.
“When I graduated with my BFA from the University of Lethbridge in 2009, I moved to Puerto Rico which is where I developed this body of work,” she said.
Her exhibition includes 17 oil paintings and 11 drawings which reflect her appreciation for how nature works together.
“I was influenced a lot by local landscapes, vegetation and the diversity of the landscape and vegetation,” she said, noting in addition to being influenced by Puerto Rico, she also drew inspiration from the temperate climate and vegetation of Canada.
“ I was influenced by temperate vegetation of Canada as well as Boreal landscapes,” she said noting it wasn’t just the individual components of the landscape itself that inspired her.
“I wasn’t as much interested plants, trees and rocks, as I was the relationship between them and the ecological process,” she said.
“ It’s a balance between science and a need for creativity,” she said, adding it also examines the process of how scientific hypothesis are produced.
More information about April Matisz as well as her artist statement can be found at http://www.aprilmatisz.net
The official opening of the exhibit is at 9 p.m. (after the official opening of the next exhibits at SAAG) and runs until March 31.
The Kitchener -Waterloo Art gallery organized exhibition “Imitation of Life” features animation from a variety of different artists Lois Andison, Daniel Barrow, Kota Ezawa, Adad Hannah, Faith La Rocque, Lorna Mills, Allison Schulnik and Skawennati.
Their works explore anxiety towards sentience. Works use a range of technology including appropriated systems, software , kinetic sculpture still photos and existential cartoons to recreate scenes of modern life.
The other exhibition “Blue Line” is also a group exhibition which explores erasure, exclusion and adolescence through comic panels and graphic narratives created by Robert Crumb, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Guy Delisle, Jill Stanton, and Connor Willumsen among others.
Their works combine a combination of cultural commentary, subjective experiences and the artist’s psychological projections. The exhibit was organized by the Southern Alberta Art Gallery and curated by Michael Campbell, Janice Rahn and Jarrett Duncan.
Both exhibits run until April 17.
