NUEVOS
Muse Gallery
August 12th - 25th, 2021
NUEVOS
The events of the past year and a half have significantly changed the lives of people all over the world. Suddenly, we had to rediscover our “normal”. Events and gatherings were approached in a completely new way, interactions were limited, and people became less physically connected. The common practise of sending a bouquet to a loved one for a particular event - baby shower, wedding, holiday, funeral - became heightened in the time following March 2020. As people were encouraged to distance themselves physically, we had to rely on another method to express our congratulations, gratitude, and grief.
During this time, I immediately began linking moments or events in my own life with bouquets and painting those bouquets. In painting the bouquets, I am personifying the floral arrangements as those moments and events. Transforming 3-dimensional, ephemeral, living forms into 2-dimensional, permanent paintings on canvas. The painting then becomes that moment. The painting then becomes that event.
This practise has allowed me to honour the memory of a past event or moment and fully connect with the present. Recreating the bouquet as a painting forces me to carefully study and meditate on the arrangement (event or moment), express my experience through the painting, and then let go. What is left for me is a renewed sense of presence and wholeness.
Nuevos is a collection of paintings completed during the past six months. We welcomed our first child into the world in September 2020 and have since moved from Toronto, Canada to Playa del Carmen, México. The theme of our lives has been ‘change’. Approaching painting in this meditative way has given me a renewed sense of peace. Each painting has a unique personal story to it, however I encourage the viewer to associate their own experiences with the artworks.