Opening March 24, 2014, Menagerie is a new exhibition at the Langley Centennial Museum featuring the graduating Art + Design class of Trinity Western University’s School of the Arts, Media + Culture (SAMC).
Menagerie displays a collection of realities built from the personal myths and narratives of 12 artists. An all-woman company, they came from around the world to study at TWU: Squamish, Winnipeg, Colorado, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia are just a few of the places represented by this collective. On the cusp of completing the SAMC Art + Design program, these young artists celebrate their diversity in this mixed media exhibition.
With work varying from video installations to ballpoint pen illustrations to contemporary portraiture, this experiential anthology is shaped by the question of how to tell a personal story with integrity.
Working within the themes of identity and time, Emily Garrison investigates forms of communication found within ambiguous spaces in her work. Garrison’s featured pieces incorporate screenprinting and forestry flagging tape, offering the viewer an opportunity to step into an interesting subculture of first-world society.
Inspired by her summers spent tree planting, Garrison depicts tree planters in their environment, and offers an aesthetic depiction of the communication in action. She has come to understand that a majority of communication is non-verbal. “Often times the success of a planter is contingent on the understanding and ‘fluency’ of this non-verbal communication,” she says. Similar themes arise in Garrison’s overall portfolio, which consists of various renderings of the tree planters and the interrelationships that exist.
Exhibit highlights also include the collision of colour, line, and memory in Brooke Higginbotham’s portraits and abstracts, as well as Diana Hiebert’s illustrative work, inspired by the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Other featured artists are Olivia de Fleuriot, Mikaela Fuqua, Laura Holland, Abby Hontiveros, Jessica Hurd, Amy Robinson, Marianne Soehardi, Tara Spencer, and Nancy Timmermans.
Menagerie runs March 24 – April 26 at the Langley Centennial Museum, 9135 King Street, Fort Langley. Opening Reception Tuesday, March 25 at 6:30 p.m. Presented as part of TWU’s Festival of the Arts, Media + Culture with support from “Friends of the Festival” Opus Art Supplies and Long & McQuade. For more information, visit www.twu.ca/samc or www.langleymuseum.org.