Robert Randall is a Victoria-born artist whose representational oil paintings frequently incorporate visual elements associated with history, culture, advertising and the mass media.

A major theme in his painting is the dialogue between the man-made and the natural world in the form of paintings depicting ordinary objects like buildings, homes, fields and animals set in a landscape conveying an ambiguous narrative.

His largest body of work consists of an ongoing series of small paintings of middle-class suburban houses culled from real estate advertising.

Robert combines traditional oil painting techniques with frequent use of industrial materials such as plywood, reclaimed industrial palette wood and polyester drafting film.

Robert graduated from the Victoria College of Art’s four-year fine arts program in 1996.

Lara is currently working on the Thread&Paint Revolution series, an exploration of complimentary and contrasting media; it draws attention to the contradicting effect of soothing traditional textiles and unsettling figurative images, reticulated within a labyrinth of thread and paint. This series is also an exploration of the mental struggle between accepted social aesthetics and the individual’s unrefined aesthetic ideals; aiming to prove that beauty must really lie within the eye of the beholder…

“This series is a playful exploration of media, specifically media that tends to be classically stereotyped and therefore confined within creative possibility and audience type. I am attempting to break those boundaries and illustrate the potential deviant nature of fabric art; it can be edgy and strange, even alarming. And now I’m watching it carve and anomalous pathway into the art world.”

“What I see when I look out the window are trees.  When I look to the sky I see branches.  I typically encounter more trees per day than people.  These are my portraits”.

Cheryl was born in Winnipeg Manitoba, but has lived and worked in Victoria, B.C. most of her life. She graduated with a Fine Arts Diploma from the Victoria College of Art in 2004 and has been showing her work in juried and non-juried exhibitions since then. From 2003 to 2005, along with three other contemporary artists, Cheryl opened and operated an artist-run gallery and studio, The Store Studio, in downtown Victoria. During its two years of operations she exhibited a diverse body of work comprised of drawing, painting and sculpture.

Cheryl’s work in mixed media painting, printmaking and drawing on mylar explores the theme of relationship, specifically the process of moving between cycles of decay and renewal. Another recurring theme is the examining of the hidden aspects of self in an effort to experience them more clearly.  Her work can be found in both national and international collections.

READ THE REVIEW IN THE MAY 13TH VICTORIA TIMES COLONIST

http://www.timescolonist.com/entertainment/High+style+meets+street/6613778/story.html

June 8th to July 7th, Michael Pittman,  ”IMPLEMENTS OF CAPTURE”

July 13th to August 11th, Yuri Arajs, “Black Moon Rising”

Further information and images to follow shortly.

For the past ten years I have used non-traditional print-making methods (hand cut stencils and a Japanese screen printing toy called a Gocco printer) as a starting point for original mixed media pieces. I work primarily with spray paint (coupled with the stencils), acrylics, gouache, and inks. I print on antique papers preferring handwritten love letters, envelopes, journal pages, sheet music and maps.  My surfaces have also included 100 year old cedar shingles, barn boards, rusty metal, wooden and metal boxes of various origins, and discarded cabinet doors. I am most satisfied when I can make a tangible or visceral connection between the materials used and the image rendered. My work is deeply layered, often both literally and figuratively.

My imagery, nostalgic and wistful, is largely biographical and reflective of my pensive nature. I draw inspiration from childhood memories growing up on a Midwestern farm, the urban community in which I live now, bicycles, street art, gardening, random found objects, collective endeavours that challenge hierarchy, acts of compassion, downright silliness and things with wings.

Dave Barnes lives in BC and his work is shown nationally and internationally.

Artist`s Statement

Born in Burnaby, British Columbia in 1974, my adolescence was spent growing up in the suburbs of Coquitlam. Much of my childhood was spent building forts in the nearby woods, catching frogs and tadpoles up at the local ponds, or hanging out in my father’s workshop. During these years, my exposure to contemporary art was obsolete to say the least; however, my love for modern /contemporary work was born when I started to attend art school.

I spent 2 years at Langara College where I focused my attention on etching and welded steel sculpture, and discovered artists like Claes Oldenburg, Cy Twombly, Philip Guston and Basquiat.In 1998 I finished my BFA at Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design where I majored in sculpture and drawing.

Since my graduation from Emily Carr, much of my time has been spent working in Western Canada and traveling: backpacking through the Andean regions of South America, trekking through Irelandand Scotland and exploring major art capitals such as LA, New York and London. During this time my art making practice has changed from sculpture based work to mixed media drawings on paper and board as well as large scale oil based paintings on wood box frames.

My work is an experiment in contradictions for me. Many of the works contain elements of intentional randomness in terms of subject matter. These unique relationships of chance and absurdity juxtapose the flow of connectivity of the body of work as a whole, which is tied together with basic design principles. An implied narrative runs throughout much of the work.

EXHIBITION HISTORY:

Deluge Gallery: RPM: Foundraiser Show, Victoria, B.C.April 10- 2, 52009

XChanges Artists Gallery: Parade: Solo Show, Victoria, B.C.Sept. 5-282009

Deluge Gallery: Lost Art Of The LP: Foundraiser ShowVictoria, B.C., March 2008

Gallery At The Mac: A Boy’s Life, Main GalleryVictoria, B.C.Oct 30 – Dec 11, 2006

Eciad : Graduation Show: South BuildingVancouver, B.C. 1998

Eciad: Hybrid Show: Concourse GalleryVancouver, B.C. 1997

Langara College: Graduation Show: Main LevelVancouver, B.C.1995

Evergreen Cultural Centre: Solo ShowCoquitlam, B.C.April 30 – May 222010

EDUCATION:

Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Vancouver, B.C. – 1995-1998 – Sculpture & Drawing Majors

Langara College, Vancouver, B.C. – 1993 – 95 – Diploma: Fine Arts Program

Biography

Ronan Boyle was born in Derry, Northern Ireland and came to Canada as a child in 1974.

Drawing and painting since childhood, he is a self-taught artist; his main inspirations stem from the Pop movement of the 60’s and the Do-It-Yourself movement of New York’s punk scene in the late 70’s and early 80’s.  His work has an edgy street aesthetic with a clean sophistication.

Ronan currently lives and paints in Vancouver.