Maria McGowan Blog Post

Given the opportunity to spend $100.00 in Halifax Maria McGowan saw fit to spend it on one of my small paintings, this is what ensued.

http://therightcoastnovascotia.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-big-day-downtown-at-argyle-fine-art.html

Thanks Maria for the shout out to local artists and galleries!

A1C Website

http://www.a1cgallery.com/

Installation shots from Pareidolia

On the first night in Saint John's, while taking a break from installing, I was able to catch an artist's talk by Craig Francis Power about his residency in Beijing. This turned out to be both entertaining and inspiring. For the rest of my short two day visit to Newfoundland I tried to see as much of beautiful Saint John's as possible on foot, no small feat as it turned out, especially Signal Hill! Many special thanks to A1C board member Clare Asquith Finegan for generously allowing me to stay in her lovely home and gallery coordinator Michael Young for his help with installation and to everyone else who braved a rainy Saint John's night to come out and attend the opening!

Artist's Statement, Pareidolia

Pareidolia: From Ancient Greek para (amiss, wrong)+eidōlon, (image)

The tendency to interpret a vague stimulus as something known to the viewer, such as seeing shapes in clouds…

The word Pareidolia plays a dual role in this visual narrative. As a phenomenon equally applicable to cloud castles as oil spills, it seemed fitting that it take on, in its form and content, elements of both. It is meant to reflect a visual phenomenon first but also a place, an imagined garden. I drew source material from many places, most significantly the work of Victorian botanical illustrators whose names are lovingly referenced in the titles of many of the painting in this series.

In Pareidolia we see a world of wholesale fecundity, a coexistence of growth and death and an overwhelming, even menacing potential for life. Since this series began and developed under a real time deluge of news reports about oil in the Gulf of Mexico, it was inevitable that it became a garden grown in amorphous forms against backgrounds of black ichor. The dual nature of life and death is easily equated with this lifeblood of ancient gods, made poisonous to the touch of mortal creatures. The awkward combination of these elements is intended to suggest that our collective desires not only have size and weight but, in some cases, may be measured by the litre.

The last four.

These are the last four pieces ( each measuring roughly 24'' x 24'') of fifteen that will be shown in my upcoming exhibition. The next step is the graphic design on the catalogue which will also include the artist's statement for "Pareidolia", both to follow soon!

New Pieces!

Here are the latest pieces I've finished for my upcoming show! Each piece shown measures approximately 24'' x 24'' and is painted in a combination of my handmade egg tempera and encaustic paints. More Soon!