Hanging too tightly to animate and inanimate objects can prove detrimental, and local multi-media artist Betty Spackman hopes her exhibition going up next week at Fort Gallery provokes thoughts on that very subject.
Taking Flight: A Collection of Curiosities is an assembly of works and paintings by Spackman, augmented with pieces by Victoria Bowes, Elizabeth Carefoot, and Deb DeJong.
The exhibit opens next Wednesday, Jan. 13, and remains on display until Jan. 31, with an opening reception on Friday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m.
鈥淭his eclectic 鈥榗uriosity shop鈥� of objects and paintings comes from considering our propensity to collect and try to hold on to what we desire to know or to have,鈥� said Spackman.
鈥淲e tend to want to keep and to cage the objects of our desires but in doing so we face the danger of destroying the very things we admire. Ultimately, owning and naming something has very little to do with understanding it. I am interested in this paradox. I am interested in the act of capturing and confining life鈥� but mostly, I am interested in freedom,鈥� she concluded.
The opening also features musician Kelta Haverland singing Caged Bird from her Juno Award nominated CD, Naked Soul.
Evoking compassion for refugees
The gallery is also bringing back its First Thursday events starting tonight (Thursday) at 7 p.m.
It will feature gallery artist Claire Moore and writer Louise Bergen Price.
Moore, whose work is featured in the gallery鈥檚 current group exhibit Small Wonders, is a visual artist and art educator involved with many community-based art projects.
She will be talking about a recent project in her home community of Surrey that focuses on the role of the arts in community building.
Price was born in a refugee camp in Austria shortly after the Second World War.
Her stories recall experiences of her grandparents鈥� and parents鈥� generation, Mennonite refugees from Stalin鈥檚 Ukraine. She will be sharing one of her short stories, a timely call for compassion toward current refugees.
The Fort Gallery, at 9048 Glover Rd. in Fort 91原创, is open Wednesdays through Sundays, from noon to 5 p.m.
