ESTEVAN — The Estevan Art Gallery and Museum introduced two new, water-centred exhibitions on Feb. 9.
Currents by Regina's Holly Fay is on display at Gallery 1, and Gallery 2 features Light from Water by Hanna Yokozawa Farquharson of Saltcoats, Sask. Both exhibits will be up at the EAGM until March 29.
Gallery 1 – Currents
"Water is the universal transport medium of life, performing essential roles on massive and minute scales. All water present at the beginning of the planet is present today, cycling through and over the earth, moving through the sky, and moving through all the planet's beings. Water unequivocally demonstrates the interconnectivity of all natural phenomena,
says the exhibition's description.
Focusing on the properties and states of water, Currents explores notions of cycle and flow within this abiotic component of the ecosystem.
In the large-scale works included in Currents, subtle layers of graphite (a form of carbon — the other element on which all life is based) were applied to the surface of the paper in a succession of building up, lifting and reapplying. Created through additive and subtractive manipulations of layered graphite, forms are void of defined boundaries or contours, evoking fluidity and continual flux.
Linear marks in the picture plane propose the multidimensional aspects of physical space and the transitory qualities of water, energy and movement. The drawing process is a means to visually conceptualize the wonder present throughout this underpinning of the natural world.
Accompanying the large-scale drawings are smaller works on paper – the Water Graphs series, which were completed in open air in concurrency with rain, snow and ice. Media applied to paper is exposed to rain, frost, humidity or snow, or a succession of these. The resulting exquisitely patterned watercolour and graphite works mark the presence and actions of precipitation within the time frame the papers are exposed. Respectively, dates and the form of precipitation are recorded in the title of each work.
"Coinciding with the need for scientific analyses, there is also a necessity for meaning which affirms a personalized acknowledgement and acclaim for the marvel and wonder of the natural systems and phenomena which sustain us. In this time of extreme weather events, our felt connection to, and the interconnectedness of all natural phenomena is ever more profound, conspicuous and present," says the description.
Gallery 2 – Light From Water
Light from Water involves production of a series of embroidered representations of crystallized water drawing on the work of Japanese scientist/author, Dr. Masaru Emoto. According to the artist's statement, water is seen as a living, communicating, inter-relating reality. Water is sacred in many cultures and a body of work showing the spiritual/sacred geometry of water would show the emphasis upon the beauty of nature and the beauty of microworlds.
Water is so intertwined with people's whole being and with all life on the planet. When Yokozawa Farquharson saw the images of crystalized water, she saw immediately the beauty and symmetry. This theme fits, as well, with her philosophy and her desire to represent the beauty of the natural world through art.
Yokozawa Farquharson is continuously researching the topic. She believes that by working with antique kimono fabric and using thread from her mother's kimono obi (Sashi), she will be able to depict the beauty of water in this medium.
She is using a technique called seed-stitching for this work. She seeds the light of threads on and within the fabric.
"May seeds of light begin to rise in viewers' hearts and souls," says the description.
