Pieces of Me: A Story of Self
Welcome to Metchosin ArtPod's ONLINE GALLERY for the juried show...
Pieces of Me:
A Story of Self
Pieces of Me: A Story of Self is a thought-provoking art exhibition that delves into the intricate layers of human identity. Through various mediums such as painting, sculpture, photography, and mixed media, this show offers a diverse array of perspectives on what it means to be an individual in today's complex world.
The juror for this show is representational and portrait oil painter Adrien Smart. Check out his work: on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleo... or Website: https://www.adriensmart.com/
The web gallery is where you can vote for your favourite piece in the show. At the end of the show's run, votes are tallied and a People's Choice Award is presented to the deserving winner!
This show also exists in real life in Metchosin, BC, Canada, at Metchosin ArtPod. We highly encourage you to come see it in person during its run from May 31st 2024- July 28th 2024. People are always happy to have seen the show in person; it is quite a different experience from seeing it on-line.
**Note that ArtPod is open from 11am-4pm from Fri-Sun.**
We welcome everyone to our Opening Celebration on SATURDAY 1 June between 2-4. Meet our juror, Adrien Smart, and hear how he chose the works featured in this show, listen to accepted artists in attendance speak about their works and process, and celebrate the 3 Juror's Choice Winners!
To sign up for our monthly newsletter and to find more information about workshops and events associated with this show and upcoming shows, please consult our website: MetchosinArtPod.ca.
Enjoy the show!
All Categories
Myself as a man
Dimensions: 24 x 36 x 2
Inspiration:: I wondered what structural changes I would need to do to myself to appear as a man. Using my father as a model, and photos of myself, I blended my appearance until I felt I captured an essence of who I am. The context was a family trip where my father flew home for a conference and my mom completed the road trip in a rickety old car with 5 of the 6 children. I have an element of flight in my nature.
Materials and Process:: Oils on cradle board
Accompanying music/song and artist: : Runaway by Aurora
Pieces of Me
Dimensions: 12 x 14 x 1
Inspiration:: Over the past few years I have lost so many whom I have loved. I feel I have lost many pieces of myself and am struggling to be whole once more.
Materials and Process:: Pastel and pastel pencil
Accompanying music/song and artist: : Unchained Melody instrumental Maurice Jarre
Bedrock Fool
Dimensions: 48 x 36 x 1.5
Inspiration:: In our current western culture we are often told to believe in ourselves and make our own way. Surrendering to a higher power is deemed by many as foolish and uneducated. This painting is a declaration that my faith is my rock, and that by letting go of control I found true freedom; freedom that brought me out of the depths of despair and into the light.
Materials and Process:: Oil on canvas/linen blend
Accompanying music/song and artist: : Sure Thing/Hillsong United
All in a Day’s Work
Dimensions: 24 x 18
Inspiration:: The dress has been hanging in my closet since I last wore it as a soloist with the Edmonton Symphony in Y2K. On a whim I recently tried it on and Lo and Behold..it fit! It’s a reminder of a high pressure and traumatic life I once lived. Somewhere along the line, I decided to turn it all upside down and become a yoga teacher. And finally I am in the process of “becoming” a painter. Nothing is ever truly left behind. I practice singing, yoga and painting almost daily.
Materials and Process:: Oil painting
Accompanying music/song and artist: : Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - sung by Sara Bareilles https://youtu.be/Ozd2ja7mAgM?si=YTiBormGX6-z7_Vi
Three Faces of Grief
Dimensions: 21.5 x 19 x 3.25
Inspiration:: This piece is inspired by a deep personal loss that I suffered early in 2024. In this work I try to reveal the layers of grief, anger, and sadness that come with the sudden loss of a loved one. On the surface a face is presented that, while maybe not the happiest, it locks away the deeper layers of anger, sadness, the need to scream and to be heard. I chose the wet plate method for this piece because of its ability to create layers of imagery that can reveal deeper truths within.
Materials and Process:: Wet collodion photographic method on clear glass plate
Accompanying music/song and artist: : Gajumaru - Yaima
Layers of Me
Dimensions: 16 x 20
Inspiration:: Cameras and digital processes can be quite exposing. I've taken a self-portrait here, modified it to show my interests in photography, paint, illustration, and line. There are choices here to be more frank about my changing features and lines.
Materials and Process:: Digital Art professionally printed on Fine Art Paper Edition limited to 25 variations or renditions on various mediums or sizes. This image will be placed, with borders into a 16 x 20 frame
Accompanying music/song and artist: : Lies by Stan Rogers
Tulips Are Part of My Soul
Dimensions: 16 x 12 x 1.5
Inspiration:: The six tulips represent me as the sixth child of eight in a Dutch immigrant family. The white tulips symbolize the innocence of childhood, and the red ones are the maturing and self-actualization processes. Here I am now in my 60's, more colourful and fully-open, and unapologetically myself. The vase is made by Ina Kennedy, a Metchosin Market friend, and the table runner is a Pippa original. The table is bespoke, Fir, and live-edge. Living with artisan-made items is an important part of me.
Materials and Process:: Encaustic painting on cradle board
Accompanying music/song and artist: : Everything by Alanis Morisette
Rupture
Dimensions: 48 x 30 x 0.75
Inspiration:: When you have tried to communicate for so long and reluctantly realize that the best way forward is to cut ties and walk away. You love someone who cannot love you back due to your background, race, ethnicity, or beliefs. Exhausted from fighting and explaining to deaf ears, every effort to change their perception fails. Instead of giving up, you choose "Rupture": self-breaking, your soul exploding, your mind erupting. Your core remains gold, regardless of the vessel or who is judging you.
Materials and Process:: mixed media on Canvas
Accompanying music/song and artist: : Heavy by Linkin Park with Kiiara
Shift
Dimensions: 48 x 24 x 1.5
Inspiration:: The painting I have chosen for the "Pieces of Me" art show at the Artpod Gallery is from a new series that I am currently working on. In this series I am interested in exploring my identity through my subconscious, emotional and physical reactions to diverse experiences. This painting is about my subconscious shifting emotions and making space for acceptance.
Materials and Process:: Acrylic paint and mixed medium on Birch Wood Panel. Layering and deconstructing with squeegees and various miscellaneous tools/objects
Accompanying music/song and artist: : thinking of possibilities
A little mischief
Dimensions: 24 x 24 x 1.5
Inspiration:: This painting I selected for the "Pieces of Me" ArtPod Art show is from a new series I am currently working on. In this series I am interested in exploring my identity through my subconscious, emotional and physical reactions to diverse experiences. The painting "A Little Mischief" is about about playing the "Trickster".... remembering to bring a little humour to the situation!
Materials and Process:: Materials; Acrylic paint , mixed medium on birch Plywood panel. Producing impressionistic abstract images by layering paint and mixed medium with squeegees and various tools/ objects.
Accompanying music/song and artist: : currently deciding on possibilities
I May Not Be Your Cup of Tea but I’m OK with Me24”
Dimensions: 24 x 12 x 1.5
Inspiration:: Self reflection and shared experiences are a common theme in my work. For this piece I have conjured a being who is comfortable in their own skin and on a journey of self acceptance.
Materials and Process:: Acrylic on stretched canvas
Accompanying music/song and artist: : I’m Not Everyone’s Cup of Tea by Desiree Dawson
All over the map
Dimensions: 24 x 20 x 1.5
Inspiration:: Travel has formed much of who I am. Sometimes I feel like I am all over the map with who I am, what I want, where I have been and where I am going. So I slow down and take time to sit with the feeling and stitch myself into place. In the meantime, I think I am alone, but there is always someone watching.
Materials and Process:: Chalk paint, oil pastels, stitch and charcoal
Accompanying music/song and artist: : The Water is Wide by Jane Siberry
Spirals of Inquiry
Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 12
Inspiration:: The Four Stages of Competence learning model is used to describe a typically linear journey of skill development. My creative journey has been the opposite of linear. It is best described as overlapping spirals of inquiry and I find myself retracing through these stages. This circular endeavour makes me wonder -is becoming an artist a destination, or an endless quest? I now prefer to represent the 4 stages of learning as a set of dice, tumbling and rearranging themselves with every exploration.
Materials and Process:: Cone 6 white stoneware clay, underglaze silkscreen image transfer, oxidation-fired
Accompanying music/song and artist: : Closer To Fine - Indigo Girls
On That Day I Found the Right Path
Dimensions: 40 x 31 x 0.25
Inspiration:: I had changed from my original career as a nurse to being a fine artist in textile art. I realized that this was really where I wanted to be. Thus, I have been creating textile art for the past 40 years.
Materials and Process:: hand dyed cotton, hand dyed paper, handmade paper; machine and hand stitching
Accompanying music/song and artist: : river by Joni Mitchell
Women's Work, The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree
Dimensions: 48 x 47 x 0.25
Inspiration:: Sewing and textile work , including crochet, knitting, tatting, lace work plus sewing clothes etc., was what all the women in my family did and are still doing. This is a short "story" of my immediate family tree.
Materials and Process:: handmade clothes, handmade lace work, paper pattern pieces. Done in two layers of silk organza, images printed on cotton.
Accompanying music/song and artist: : river by Joni Mitchell
height x width x depth
Dimensions: 60 x 18 x 4
Inspiration:: This sculpture shows two sides of a person; a more feminine and a more masculine side. They can be mixed and matched as they are in any person. The sculpture rotates as a whole and each of the small boxes also rotates.
Materials and Process:: Recycled wood, industrial materials, embroidered fabric.
Accompanying music/song and artist: : Human by Killer
Nestled
Dimensions: 6 x 12 x 6
Inspiration:: Humans, petting and nurturing our industries, our technology and making a cozy nest for them to grow.
Materials and Process:: Materials: found metal from beaches and forests as well as stoneware clay and glaze. Process: sculpted and assembled.
Accompanying music/song and artist: : Polo and Pan, "Canopée"
Onward
Dimensions: 24 x 16 x 4
Inspiration:: Humans, knowing our addiction to technology, to efficiency, is bad for us but embracing it with false promises of happiness.
Materials and Process:: Materials: found metal from beaches and forests as well as stoneware clay and glaze. Process: sculpted and assembled.
Accompanying music/song and artist: : Queens of the Stone Age, "Go with the flow"
Feather
Dimensions: 7.5 x 21 x 1
Inspiration:: My wing buds were dormant for decades. Many times they tried to sprout; then lowered again, just bumps on weary unconfident shoulder blades. It took a life journey, for them to grow, strengthen, carry my weight - and soar. Sometimes my feathers shed, not from flying too close to the sun like Icarus, but from flying headlong into controversy, activism, & when protecting. They loosen after arching my wings over my children & amidst fights for freedom. To fly free is hard-won bliss.
Materials and Process:: Sculpted by hand tools from Vancouver Island marble.
Accompanying music/song and artist: : Will provide if accepted
Identity Crisis
Dimensions: 24 x 18 x 2.5
Inspiration:: Mom said my eyes were hers - others said they were like Dad’s. Uncle declared my nose a replica of Auntie’s. I dreamt of a mouth with lips full like my cousin’s. When one’s gene pool combines unequal parts from several continents, who you resemble is a mixed bag. Is there a universal or collective consciousness? Are we born with some ancestor memories as well as their features? Am I all of them?
Materials and Process:: Juxtaposed & unmatched alabasters and steatite, carved into eyes, nose, & mouth signifying aspects of a human visage.
Accompanying music/song and artist: : will provide if accepted
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