The ACT Art Gallery is presenting the new non-objective paintings by North Vancouver artist, Jane Kenyon.
Jane Kenyon, who is better known for her painterly fibre creations, demonstrates a significant turn in her art with these paintings.
While she achieved considerable success with the thread paintings that defined her career for many years, Kenyon says she is ready to step beyond the ‘comfort zone’ of her more familiar medium and into the unpredictable and often mysterious world of non-objective painting – that is an expression of emotion and the unconscious.
“While my past work has been profoundly influenced by the environment of the Pacific Northwest, I have a deep desire to paint non-objectively, allowing colour and mark-making to emanate from somewhere inside my body other than my conscious self. This intuitive practice often seems careless and haphazard but is actually passionate and engaging and I am learning to let go of my analytical and judgmental thinker, at least during the painting process itself,”said Kenyon.
Kenyon believes that her precision with colour has always been a strength.
The many years she spent mixing dyes has served the artist well in her ability to create effective tonal shifts within the art she now produces with acrylic paints and other media.
Approximately half of the exhibition is dedicated to a series called Variations on a Red Triangle. The series was borne out of a need to transcend the feeling of being ‘stuck’ in a particular mode of expression. Each work begins with some common elements that are repeated throughout the series, while new forms, colours and textural language are introduced with each succeeding artwork.
Variations on a Red Triangle opens Apr. 13 at the ACT Art Gallery, 11944 Haney Place with a free opening reception between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Kenyon will present a talk and tour of her artwork on Saturday, May 11 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Everyone is welcome and there is no charge to the public. The exhibition runs until June 8.
mailto:cflanagan@mapleridgenews.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
