Concern about the encroachment of industry and the effect of human carelessness on the landscape is the common theme in the latest exhibition at the ACT Art Gallery.
Called Confluence, the work draws attention to climate change and the ongoing deterioration of local wildlife habitat.
The exhibition is a collaboration of work by the three artists in residence working in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.
Artists Robi Smith, Kat Wahamaa and Rebecca Fisher want to raise the public’s environmental consciousness to prevent further damage to nature by the development and advancement of industry.
Smith, whose work reflects her passion for coastal marine ecosystems, has created three installations, a combination of paintings and sculptures made from found materials, that explore the how the community interacts with the Alouette River watershed.
Wahamaa will be exhibiting a series of photographs that examine the impact of gravel mines on the local wildlife.
Fisher, whose work focuses on sculptural fibre art, has created a dress out of plastic waste that will be exhibited by a smaller body of her work, reflecting her family history close to Lasqueti Island, located between Vancouver Island and Texada Island.
The three artists started their residencies in the Parks and Leisure Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Artist Residency Program in 2014.
The goal of the program is to provide an opportunity for artists to create arts-based community engagement projects and activities that have a lasting impact in the region in exchange for studio space.
The show runs from June 11 to July 2 at the ACT Art Gallery, 11944 Haney Place, downtown Maple Ridge.
It will be open to the public during regular gallery hours, Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on evenings that coincide with theatre performances.
There is no charge.
The opening reception is from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday.
• For more information, go to http://www.theactmapleridge.org/.
