The featured exhibit runs January 1 – 31, 2024 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.⁠

 

Artist Reception: January 4 at 5:30PM.⁠

 

Artist: Shelley Paley

 

Artist Statement:

Definition Benevolent: Kindness and open-heartedness curiosity in Allowing: opportunity to wholistic embody self-acceptance and self-awareness in each of one’s experiences This art exhibit depicts one human’s personal creative development of benevolent allowing of self to reframe and heal family of origin relationships. The artist is using the spiritual medicine of nature in our urban river valley for grounding and self-regulation and as a safe therapeutic space for temporary eco-art installations. Using art in therapy as a vehicle to explore things relational dynamics that are alive in the present moment through spontaneous artmaking and specifically offered art therapy experientials to explore one’s subconscious knowing that surfaces within the relationship with a professional art therapist. These art images are visual processes exploring the use of temporary eco-art installations in our Edmonton River valley for redevelopment of embodied self-compassion and self-appreciation.

 

Shelley Paley (she/they) is an Edmontonian who has worked as a teacher and art specialist with K-12 children for the past fifteen years. She is passionate about the varied ways we as humans use art to make and reform meaning throughout our lives. Shelley is drawn to creative collaboration with others including in the classroom, and in group art therapy invitations. She is responsive to each of her art therapy client’s current needs. Shelley has personally leaned into art processes, and she has experienced healing through art therapy. Within her worldview of everything is sacred or nothing is sacred, Shelley continues to develop her professional art therapy practice as a second-year art therapy student at Kutenai Art Therapy Institute.

The featured exhibit runs December 1 – 31, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.⁠

 

Artist Reception: December 9 at 2PM.⁠

 

Artist: D.N.E.

 

Artist Statement:

 

I find visualizing the space a show is going to inhabit before commencing its physical manifestation really heightens my clarity and intuition regarding it. In the case of the Metro Gallery, there are two walls parallel from one another. This has directly inspired ‘Excavation/Flammable, We are All!’. Side Flammable is a wall covered in a dozens of fires ranging in size from 3”x 5” to 40” x 60”. Side Excavation ranges from 6” x 9” to 20” x 72” and also contains new works from my ongoing ‘Intent is Power’ series. Both walls are unified by two things: sigils and a poem written specifically for this purpose- unification. Sigils alone are something that could warrant much elaboration (see website)- they are vitalizing to my process. All I will say on that front is that a sigil is a consciously created symbol that works subconsciously and that it was an eureka moment for me to realize the power added to my art when I moved them from years of notebook after notebook into a visual ritual practice; something in which I cannot unsee.

 

Excavation works are the onset of another ongoing series. In these the sigils are far less pronounced, instead building up to create a layered, textured background to the intuitive shapes presented. Each form is an aspect of self. I had a vision for an album cover for the 4 way split my main band plus one of my solo projects are collaborating on and it is this piece – Four Allied Forms – that realized this stream of more subtly shared sigil work. Drawing comparison to a series of mine from 2012 called ‘Portrait of a Shadow’ galvanized a more introspective meaning to this current work. For the most part the forms are stripped down to a near silhouette existence. They are but shadows on the wall, yet they bring awareness to the essence all the same, if not more powerfully from a subconscious standpoint. I find these works to be more personal.

 

The title ‘Flammable, We are All!’ was taken from a book of poetry I wrote in 2017. More recently this title was reused for a noise/drums album of another of my solo projects and I’d painted a fire for the cover. This was Flammable, We are All! I’. The next 16 (II – XVII) were graphite & pastel works for the artist editions and everything in this show is everything since. The spiritual and alchemical nature of fire is something that has long inspired me.

 

 

 

Flammable, We are All!

 

Flammable, We are All!
The torch is in your heart,
Gateway to intuition,
True seat of consciousness.

 

Thought laden analytical mind-
Turns to ash when centred
When connected to wisdom innate.
Excavated not created
It was already there
Resonances of emboldened insight-
A mirror.

 

Staring at yourself through every perception
Not every chord truck that of recognition
Yet it is you all the same.
The deepest recesses of the mind
presenting shadows in broad daylight
Gifting opportune lessons
if humble enough to take them
paired with an awareness for change
For the unfurling of what is already known
but long forgotten
Shed at birth to toil for
Past illusion and sleep.

 

Transformative assignment
One in which the objective was misplaced,
carried away by the river of Lethe
and found in the pool of memory.

 

Flammable, We are All!
Flames quenched in Mnemosyne
The deeper the excavation goes
The more unadulterated the fire.

 

 

D.N.E. is a multi-instrumental musician, artist, poet and writer whose work throughout all modes of expression encircles vivifying consciousness and the eternal transfiguration with intent to stimulate deeper awareness and strength as a path of self realization. Though having lived abroad for several years as a fresh adult, she was born, raised and long time resides in Edmonton.

 

The featured exhibit runs November 1 – 30, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.⁠

 

Artist Reception: November 8  at 5:30PM.⁠

 

Artist: Sarah C Louise

 

Artist Statement:

Characters are the greatest teachers. Through their mistakes and perspectives we are able to journey through unlived experiences. This show, Affinity for Fiction, is a tribute to characters instrumental in the experience of the artist. The show highlights some especially iconic characters, some of which Sarah fell in love with in this very theatre!

 

Sarah C Louise is an Edmonton-born creative. An English Teacher by profession, Sarah has an enduring fondness for characters. She began painting because her grandparents were gifted oil painters. Any sort of creation by Sarah is, in some way, centered around story, whether it is a script for a Fringe show, musical compositions, or a series of portraits. Her eminent muses are her beautiful creatures: Wicket, Hubble (stunning kitties, both), and her puppy Poe.

 

The featured exhibit runs October 1 – 31, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.⁠

 

Artist Reception: October 5  at 5:30PM.⁠

 

Artist: Nicole Galellis

 

Artist Statement:

 

These recent paintings were created over the summer during a period of wildfires that have touched lives locally and globally. Using fire and smoke as symbols, my goal was to explore themes of crisis and transformation. I incorporated other imagery from nature, offering hope for renewal and resilience. I aim for this art to remind myself and others that renewal can come from disruption and change. Thank you to the Metro Cinema for hosting this exhibit and for creating inclusive programming where diverse perspectives and educational experiences can be shared.

 

 

Nicole Galellis is an artist and educator living in Edmonton. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and has participated in artist residencies in Banff, Grand Prairie and Taipei, Taiwan. Nicole’s paintings are featured in private and public collections including the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Lois Hole Hospital and Borden Park Pavilion, Edmonton. Nicole divides her time between her studio and teaching practices, and has taught in a variety of settings: the Art Gallery of Alberta, Harcourt House Artist Run Centre, the U of A’s Faculty of Extension, the Nina Haggerty Centre for the Art. Since completing a degree in Secondary Education, Nicole has taught high school with Edmonton Public Schools.

 

The featured exhibit runs September 1 – 30, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.⁠

 

Artist Reception: September 7 at 5:30PM.⁠

 

Artist: Brandi Strauss

 

Artist Statement:

 

For the past decade I’ve been composing collages by hand, without digital manipulation. My body of work began as a paper medium zine experimenting with Xerox duplication and colour composition. Lately, I have been interested in creating my own images for my work. Capturing images on film allows me to explore new depths, a new world created from the lens of a camera. Collaging allows me to manipulate images the way our mind manipulates our ideas of perception. The subjects presented are both familiar and ominous. The two mediums explore the paradox between the mundane and complex nature of the subconscious imagination. The images chosen are combined impressions of conflicting senses of disconnection. Our memory is manipulated and sometimes constructed by our imagination. Photography allows me to appreciate the stillness of the images I am using in my work. Meanwhile collaging allows me to deconstruct and reconstruct images the way I view the world. When either tearing up images from magazines and books or capturing them thru a lens, I am examining the emotion they place, and the memories they refine.

 

Brandi Strauss is a multidisciplinary self taught artist and musician exploring various forms of artistic expression. Over the past decade Brandi has performed and released work under the moniker Static Control. Exploring multiple mediums of art, naturally drawn and captivated by the power of imagery. The art of photography and the carefully crafted art of collage are a meditative process; appreciating beauty, and reflecting on fleeting moments that we create. Examining the ominous elements of humanity, and how we maintain to co-exist with the natural world – despite its chaos.

The featured exhibit runs July 1 – 31, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.⁠

 

Artist Reception: July 13 at 5:30PM.⁠

 

Artist: Laura La France

 

Artist Statement:

 

I started taking photos with 35mm disposable cameras in 2016—in part to prove to myself that I was an artist, and in part to seek a sense of identity as a settler on the Canadian prairies. I feel as temporary and fragile on this land as the abandoned homesteads and chewed up fields, and as fast-paced and thoughtless as the cities. I love this land and I love capturing it on film. My work with photography was largely replaced by Super 8 film in 2019. The same pursuit, the same drive, but with a different medium. Now, I look at my work and I can see who I was and who I am now; how differently I feel about myself and about my home, but that sense of fragility has never gone away.

 

Laura La France is a self-made director, editor and cinematographer based in Amiskwaciwâskahikan / Edmonton, Alberta. Laura works in a variety of styles and formats, with a specialty in Super 8 film production and editing. With her own documentary projects in the works, Laura shoots film for musicians, poets, weddings, breweries, tattoo parlours, film societies, and other artists’ movie projects.

The featured exhibit runs June 1 – 30, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.⁠

 

Artist Reception: June 1 at 5:30PM.⁠

 

Artist: Craig Talbot

 

Artist Statement:

 

Instinct, raw emotion, honesty and courage are some of the themes that weave their way through my work. My paintings are always a reflection of my life. I believe it is the duty of an artist to tell the truth. I do this in a flurry of paint and washes left to drip down the canvas, combined with bold solid brushstrokes and elaborate patterns. I wish to express myself by using bright colours, text, collage and both realistic and sculptural elements in my work. More recently I have been inspired in my life and in my work by the fact that I suffer from chronic pain. I find inspiration in the strength and courage it takes to go on with another day of pain. I also developed a sense of spirituality from the experience. These occurrences brought a true purpose to my work. Like a quest or a mission, I vowed I would not let pain and other ailments affect me negatively any longer.

 

My work is often a reflection of the past as well. Good and bad. Art helps me keep a balance when I get lost in negative feelings from the past. It keeps me grounded. But many of the things from the past are things that make me happy. These things are music, album covers, skateboard graphics and comic books. Currently I am influenced by the neo-surrealist artwork happening in Los Angeles and the pop art of Tokyo.

 

Although an abstract painter, I am heavily influenced by hyper-realistic art. I often use realistic elements in my paintings, usually still life. Presently I am making realistic drawings and abstract paintings I try to push the boundaries between the limits of a canvas and the walls of the gallery itself. There are 3 themes that are present in my work: pain, happiness, and spirituality. I use scissors and patterns and trees as vehicles of my expression. Scissors symbolize a spiritual world. Essentially when the blades are open, the world is revealed. When they are closed only reality is present. Trees are a theme that started in art school. I used to make huge sculptures of trees. They have appeared in many drawings and paintings. Working with trees is a redemption for me, and this new work brings things back full circle. I also create paintings that are based on repetitive shapes, often dots or circles. They represent the presence of pain. The shapes and textures are a symbol of the rigid order of pain in its many forms. Finally, I like to create narratives about the work as a serious but lighthearted expression of life as it occurs. Ultimately my work is a self portrait of sorts.

 

Art reveals to me what I need to know about myself, and that is how I find my truth.

 

 

Craig Talbot was born in 1974. He has lived in many places in Canada and the US. Even above the old and contemporary masters, Talbot is most influenced by comic book art, album covers and skateboard graphics. He currently resides in Cardston AB where he thrives in the peaceful beauty of southern Alberta. His work is part of many private collections, and he has shown his work locally in Alberta, and nationally at the True Patriot Love Fundraiser in Toronto and internationally at Modart Gallery in Miami. He was also the curator for the exhibition: “Mechanical vs. Organic” at Untitled Art Society in Calgary.

 

The featured exhibit runs May 1 – 31, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.⁠

 

Artist Reception: May 20 at 5:30PM.⁠

 

Artist: Finn Phillips

 

Artist Statement:

 

‘Extractor’ is a self portrait and stream-of-consciousness rumination on our various roles as creators, consumers and destroyers of social and biological systems. The works use canvas, paint, welded metal, thread, and 3D-printed polymer filament in multi-layered, fluid compositions which invite the viewer to contemplate exploitation, resilience, and the connections between township roads, geometry, memory, planarians, drilling rigs, and feathers. What does it mean to take what we need?

 

Finn Phillips was born in Edmonton, Alberta. He studied painting and printmaking at Red Deer College and received a Visual Art diploma in 2004. His work includes paintings in oil, acrylic, and mixed media on canvas, printmaking, and sculptures in fibre, concrete, and welded metal. Finn’s work has been displayed throughout Alberta in group and solo shows, and his work is held in various private collections.

 

The featured exhibit runs April 1 – 30, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.⁠

 

Artist Reception: April 8 at 2PM.⁠

 

Artist: Beth Pederson

 

Artist Statement:

 

 

The phrase kicking tires or kicking the tires is derived from the automobile industry and generally means to assess the quality of something before buying it. For this exhibition, the title references my interest in observation of mechanical objects from the past and in some cases their history in pop culture.

 

I am drawn to these everyday objects of the past for their aesthetics: simplicity of form, colour, and character. I enjoy painting machines like farm tractors because they are painted with fun, bright colours that make them pop out in their surroundings, and farmers can often identify a brand of a tractor by the colour they are painted. The tractor also represents an era where mechanical objects were less complicated and easier to repair by their owners, providing farmers with greater independence.

 

In the case of the Ford Pinto, I was interested in the story of how a simple adjustment of the mechanical design of the car could have easily prevented the horrific accidents that the car became known for in 1970’s pop culture. The painting that I developed from the story of the Pinto, reflects a bright orange, popular in the 1970s and a drawing schematic that shows how the safety of the car could be improved by moving the fuel tank.

 

These paintings are a continuation of my exploration of identifying beauty in everyday objects and their place in society’s past.

 

 

Beth Pederson began her studies in Fine Art at MacEwan University where she earned a Fine Arts Diploma. Determined to continue her studies, Beth transferred to NSCAD University (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design) where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2003. Since graduating from NSCAD, Beth has continued to work as a practicing artist and has exhibited predominantly in the Edmonton area. She has participated in a several group shows in Edmonton and St. Albert, at both commercial galleries and artist-run-centres. Her work is in many private collections in Alberta and is also in the public collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

The featured exhibit runs March 1 – 31, 2023 in Metro Gallery in the Garneau Theatre lobby.⁠

Artist Reception: March 10 at 5:30PM.⁠

 

Artist: Jimmy Golden

 

Artist Statement:

Making art is a curious and often wonderful occupation. It can also be frustrating and infuriating, but all in all it does make for an interesting life. It can engage the deep belly of the soul, and aid in the self discovery that is inherent in the creative process. In my earliest years at elementary school, I spent so much time and energy drawing in the margins of my scribblers that my teachers took note. They called my parents to suggest that I enrol in Saturday morning art classes at the Art Gallery of Edmonton which was in a house on 105th Street at the time. I took to it like a duck to water, attending Saturday morning classes for many years. My education and most of the work that I have done has always been meant to enhance my art, and ultimately my enjoyment and the quality of life. Enjoying and delving into the infinite fascination of “the chemistry of colour” and the observation of the natural rhythms of Nature has been at the core of my entire life, and practice.

 

Our local universe is filled with an unending pageant of form and colour that I have always used as source material for my art. The myriad variations of animate life provide me with more than ample inspiration to reflect the infinite wonder that we are witness to in this finite existence. I have long been drawn to the ancient Chinese philosophy called Taoism. It is based on the observation of the natural opposites that comprise this world and indeed our lives. Life is created when these opposites meet and dance. In almost all art, there are both positive and negative spaces. The empty, or negative, spaces are of the same importance as the solid, or positive spaces. Their value is identical. Yin equals Yang. “Insalata Mista” is Italian for “mixed salad”. The paintings that I present here are indeed a mixed bag of my response to living here in this amazing world. There is always something new to witness and experience, amidst all that is old and familiar to us. For me, making art has always been a personal reflection of the mystery and majesty that we are all heir to.