Gordon Snelgrove Gallery
pamphlet
volume 1 | number 6
march 28 - april 1, 2016
Gordon Snelgrove Gallery
pamphlet series
volume 1 | number 6
March 28 - April 1 2016
Director’s Message
Marcus Miller
Floranne St. Amand - Rêves d’Acadie
Brandon Panasiuk - Fracture
Amy Prive - per.so.na
by Stephanie Simonot
1
2
3
5
Director’s Message
It is my pleasure to introduce this series of interpretive essays
accompanying the graduating exhibitions of BFA candidates
this year. Our writers reflect on the work of 17 solo exhibitions,
presented over six weeks from February 22 – April 1, 2016. This
is a new initiative at the University of Saskatchewan that will no
doubt benefit all contributors as they enter professional life and
add discursive heft to their work.
I want to thank Brianne Jael Davis (B.A. Honours in Art History,
2016) in particular, who suggested the idea of a pamphlet series,
worked hard to solicit writers and is one of the writers herself.
Six pamphlets will be produced over six weeks and be made
available to the public during the exhibitions. At the end of this
cycle, photographic documentation and artist’s material will be
added to a compiled catalogue and made available for a nominal
cost.
Marcus Miller, Director
Gordon Snelgrove Gallery
1
Floranne St. Amand: Rêves d’Acadie
Brandon Panasiuk: Fracture
Amy Prive: per.so.na
by: Stephanie Simonot
The three exhibits in this show could not be more
different. Rêves d’Acadie, in its impressionistic manner,
promotes a sense of peacefulness, serenity and connects the
viewer to perfect views with soft layers of colour and scenic
vistas. Fracture is the antithesis: an introspective study
of the human psyche using broken figures, disconnected
landscapes, faceted planes and an expressionist style that
challenges viewers’ comprehension. Somewhere in the
middle we have the symbolic musings of per.so.na: a series
of portraits incorporating elements of the earth and fantasy
to visually articulate the personalities of the subjects.
Floranne St. Amand Rêves d’Acadie
Rêves d’Acadie is a series of six 4 X 5’ acrylic
paintings on canvas. St. Amand is deeply tied to her
Acadian roots. Her works share the beauty and her love of
these picturesque landscapes. For an Acadian, there are no
other settings that compare. From the pastoral fields of the
St. Lawrence Seaway to the majestic mountains of Cape
Breton, the artist conveys the peace and comfort associated
with these surroundings. In each of these paintings, it’s as
if the viewer is invited to sit down and enjoy a hot beverage
of their choice. The artist was conscious of include viewers
and gave them front row experiences. The painting’s size
and rich colours express the enthusiasm the artist has for
landscapes that were so formative in her life. They evolved
from a s longing for comfort and familiarity to her experience
2
of living between here and there.
The works depict various scenes of idyllic
picturesque landscapes of the Maritimes and tend to have
a dreamlike quality. St. Amand feels the paintings represent
her efforts to capture and define the essence of a place on
canvas. She uses her imagination to connect the landscape
to the foreground in an impressionistic manner and asks
the viewer to use their imagination as well. The use of
evocative colours creates unexpected patterns of light. The
bands of colour, texture and the use of subtle shades in the
foreground, brighter hues in the middle and the employment
of minimal pigments in the background, serve to anchor the
paintings. We are transported from familiar foregrounds to
distant view with a clear sense of being immersed into the
scenes.
St. Amand is influenced by the Group of Seven but
Edwin Holgate might be a closer reference. In Comme
Chez Nous, the artist melds the sky with the soft water
to contrast with the conical, repeating forms of trees in
a visually engaging ensemble. The layering of colour is
evident throughout the works and acts as a backdrop to
the foregrounded space for seating. The mid-grounds are
impressionistic in the sense that they are not clearly defined
but painted from memory or imagination. The thoughtful
inclusion of the seating spaces in each painting suggests an
invitation into the scenes to experience feelings of serenity
and tranquility. In Rêves d’Acadie the artist asks the viewer
to partake and enjoy these splendid views.
Brandon Panasiuk Fracture
Brandon Panasiuk’s works explore the relations and
conditions of mental health through expressive imagery.
These paintings are meticulously-rendered works that use
dramatic poses and emotive symbolism as a conduit for
3
ambiguous narratives. The paintings convey the search
for meaning and understanding of the complexities of
mental conflict. The painted figures give the impression of
disconnection as well as psychological tension. Fracture
consists of three large scale paintings each with fragmented
figures that are integrated into landscapes of faceted planes.
Exploration into the relationships between the
interior human psyche and the exterior world is a complex
undertaking, and like the fracture figures, the search
is constantly evolving. The fragmented and redefined
landscape, with several interlocking and often transparent
planes, creates a sense of atmosphere, space and
depth. Heavy lines are used to detach the figure from the
background which implies disjointedness. These disruptions
allow the figures to appear to be in a state of tension.
Alternating directions such as ascending and
descending, horizontal and vertical, are recurring themes in
this body of work. In one painting, the landscape appears
unattainable as the figure reaches into the landscape striving
to grasp, while simultaneously falling into the darkness.
This imagery reflects the mental anguish within. In another
painting, a boldly drawn figure dominates the foreground
and evokes a sense of sadness and loss, disconnected from
the surroundings. The brown colours in this composition
appear as fence-like barriers that hold the subjects within
their grasp.
The paintings in Fracture invoke introspective
questions such as “what does it mean to feel connected?
Complete? How does one achieve these feelings and can
they be anything but fleeting?” It’s easy to identify with the
figures in these paintings: tension and stress are inevitable,
and we will all experience them at some point. How do we
manage this when our world is constantly shifting like the
landscapes in these works?
4
Amy Prive per.so.na
In her exhibition Amy Prive has chosen to articulate
through paint, the personalities of the people who are
important to her. Not only is it her vision of who they are to
her but also how they are connected to this universe. Prive
maintains a fragile balance between the reality and the
fantasy of the portrait. She does not view these portraits as
mere illustrated recreations of the person. The underpinning
of these portraits are her intuitive interpretations of the
person.
per.so.na is an exploration of the artist’s feelings
with regards to what the people close to her represent in
terms of their personality reflected through elements of the
earth. We are all of the earth and each of these elements is
necessary for the existence and well being of both the earth
and the spirit. The artist paints the spirit and character of the
person by deploying realism and abstraction. Both the rich
gold representing Columbia in Diego and bright orange hues
of the fire in Audrey reveal colour as an integral element in
Prive’s compositions.
The powerful colouring, boldness and complexity
of the fire in Audrey is carefully contrasted with a dark
background and has immense visual impact. This all serves
to emphasize the overall theatrical feeling of the work and
reveals a hint of the subject’s personality. The combination of
harmonious form, soft colours and the beautiful rendering of
the child in Piper are aesthetically pleasing and stir genuine
feelings of amiability. The fragility and innocence of the child
is represented through the beauty and innocence of the soft
pink flowers. In Amy: a self-portrait, a sense of freedom and
connectedness is evoked through the representation of
wind. The figure appears malleable and gives the viewer an
impression of movement. per.so.na gives glimpses of the
artist’s feelings toward each of her subjects and uses her
art effectively to convey these emotions to the viewer.
5
Gordon Snelgrove Gallery
Department of Art & Art History
University of Saskatchewan
191 Murray Building
3 Campus Drive
Saskatoon SK S7N 5A4
306-966-4208
www.usask.ca/snelgrove
snelgrovegallery@gmail.com
twitter: @gordonsnelgrove
instagram: @snelgrovegallery