2019

Minerva visits the muses, Acrylic & ink on canvas, 48x120in (Diptych), 2019

Muse

Created in 2019, these works are abstracted narratives, drawing on symbolism from antiquity. Nine works in the show represent the nine muses of greek mythology – pagan goddesses invoked by poets and artists for artistic inspiration. The largest piece in the exhibition, depicts a poem from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, ‘Minerva visits the Muses’, during which the muses transform into birds to return home.

Some paintings contain literal depictions of goddess symbols such as vessels, stars and laurel. Others are abstracted, embodying their subject using process and non-objective means. These works were painted using acrylic and ink on canvas, applied in wet washes, pours, drips and splatters. Biomorphic and curvilinear forms applied overtop are more deliberate and carefully drawn in response.

Exhibited September 2019 at Galerie Laroche / Joncas.

Urania, Acrylic & ink on canvas, 48x48in, 2019

Clio, Acrylic & ink on canvas, 48x48in, 2019

Thalia, Acrylic on canvas, 24x24in, 2019

Erato, Acrylic on canvas, 24x24in, 2019

Calliope, Acrylic on canvas, 36x36in, 2019

Melpomene, Acrylic on canvas, 48x48in, 2019

Euterpe, Acrylic on canvas, 12x12in, 2019

Terpsichore, Acrylic on canvas, 24x24in, 2019

Polyhymnia, Acrylic & ink on canvas, 36x48in, 2019

Muse installed at Galerie Laroche/Joncas in Montreal QC, 2019.

Circe, Acrylic on canvas, 48x48in, 2019

Metamorphoses

Created in 2019, these works draw inspiration from transformational narratives from Greek mythology, depicting mythologies in which female subjects undergo or catalyze extraordinary transformations. These transformations see nymphs abandoning their bodies in favour of botanical and elemental forms such as laurel (Daphne), reeds (Syrinx), and water springs (Arethusa). Other transformations take the form of animals (Io) and monsters (Charybdis), or, as with Circe, a sorceress, and femme fatale.

The work reflects on depictions of femininity, interested in addressing deeply rooted, pre-existing modes of depiction. Simultaneously, they represent diverse, defiant, and formidable representations of feminine transformational power and resilience in the face of adversity.

Exhibited August-November 2019 at Art Rental & Sales, Operated by the Vancouver Art Gallery.

“What we have been, or now are, we shall not be tomorrow”
— Ovid, Metamorphoses