From March 6 to April 10 at The Foyer Gallery, Kim Smerek presents her inspiration for a playful narrative in her latest show, Between the Lines. Also at the gallery this month is Dag Goering's visual art show, Capturing the Essence.
From Victoria, this expedition kayaker, adventure guide and veterinarian, has spent the last two decades travelling to remote villages along the banks of India's River Ganges or to the wilds of Antarctica, and many places in between.
"I'm on a path of discovery and savouring each step of the way," he said.
Conjuring thoughts of a simpler life, audiences can be swept away to hidden places with just his works' titles. Goering cuts through the clich茅s and exposes exotic interest in everyday routine and the commonplace. A gate in India, some stairs in Vietnam, a window in Croatia or an image of celebration - these landscapes, people or detail abstracts all inspire the unexpected.
Printed on cotton rag paper with archival pigments these photographs radiate softness and serenity.
"Travelling with a camera helps me see things with new eyes, and rediscover a sense of awe and wonder for the world," said Goering. "Ultimately, photography is the process of connecting with my subject - by people or a landscape - on a deeper level, and conveying the magic of that encounter to the viewer of my image."
Inspired by what he sees, Goering's artful images have been featured in photographic books and have appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers in North America and Europe, including National Geographic Adventure, Outside Magazine, Elle and The New York Times. For more information, visit www.hiddenplaces.net.
Goering will be at The Foyer Gallery's artist reception Monday April 6, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the 樱桃视频Public Library to present a slide show.
Using highly polished beeswax, fragile paper, structural wire, nostalgic rusty bits and pieces with letters and numbers representative of communicating ideas or thoughts, Smerek has created an enchanting collection of narrative sculptures.
"Taking a book apart, I reassemble parts of it to read between the lines; pieces severed and reconnected to other pieces, forming new relationships to one another," Smerek said. "Messages, taken out of context and viewed through a window allow more depth of perception and transparency and promotes the illumination of ideas."
Smerek considers herself a natural artist with a need to express herself through creativity, starting with an idea and then allowing the outcome to develop along the journey.
"Instinct and intuition are my main tools and my hands and eyes work together to perform the tasks necessary to bring the piece into fruition."
Victoria born, Smerek comes to 樱桃视频from Toronto, Montreal and Arizona. Smerek has been drawing since she was a child and attended the fine art program at York University and The Ontario College of Art, where she studied editorial illustration.
Since school, Smerek started to feel the need to experiment more, discovering enjoyment in the textural and sensory experience of creating sculpture using found objects.
"Those beautiful, once functional pieces found in urban places gone to ruin; places that nature was beginning to reclaim," she said. "That is where this show, Between the Lines, comes from."
Smerek will be on hand to present her own work at The Foyer Gallery's artist reception Tuesday, March 31 from 6 to 8 p.m.
