New exhibitions by a pair of Sunshine Coast artists explore the landscape of memory by portraying sensations that mutate into polychromatic metaphors.
Jan Jensen (Rivers of Connection: Pools of Separation) and Jess Hart (Places I’ve Worked) opened their complementary shows at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery during a public reception on Nov. 30. Both artists will return to deliver detailed talks on Dec. 7.
Jensen’s mixed-media canvas pulse with chromatic energy, evoking evolution, transformation and renewal. In Odyssey I: Uncommon Ground, the abstract’s raw canvas surface seems to peel away, revealing a striated and peach-hued skyline. In As We Traverse, brilliant shafts of light intersect earth-toned forms that suggest cartographic landforms. The motif of inexorable movement toward apotheosis occurs again and again, sometimes reflected in the titles themselves, as with Odyssey VI: Oceanic Transubstantiation.
“Flow has always interested me, right from the very beginnings of doing any kind of art,” said Jensen, who was trained at the University of the Fraser Valley and the Banff School of Fine Arts. “One connection leads to another connection, creating flow. And then you get those pools of quiet where the flow, I think, still exists but it is so slow and quiet that — in our humanness — we don’t even count that.”
During the COVID-19 shutdown, Jensen refined her ability to recognize the value of stillness in the midst of activity. Water imagery flows through her descriptions and is subtly suggested by the effervescent gyres in her works. “Life happens,” she observed. “There are rivers of connection and there are pools of separation.”
Jensen’s Painted Banner series feature clusters of translucent film adorned with acrylics, slung from ceiling to floor. Layer upon layer of the rising helixes entangle the viewer’s gaze. The consistency of Jensen’s organic-infused palette is no accident — she has found a home in the colour spectrum.
“I try to change my palette sometimes,” she admitted, “but it’s like this little inner wild child inside me says no: this is it. And when I look back at my art from 30 years ago, I see different tones, different tints, but it’s the same. So I give up and grab the colours and materials that speak to me in the moment.”
Meanwhile, resin-and-acrylic studies by Jess Hart provide a scintillating curriculum vitae by depicting the exteriors of her former places of work. The vivid blues of the facade at Coastal Cannabis fade into a psychedelic skyscape (“A chill work environment and chill people,” noted Hart in accompanying notes to the painting, called This Bud’s for You). In Tapworks (“A gig with a view and a tasty beverage”), shadows on the plank-lined patio suggest the languor of late afternoon. In Black Bean Cafe (Hart’s first gig after arriving on the Coast 15 years ago), white-winged gulls flutter against the amber effervescence of a Howe Sound sunset.
Hart’s series germinated during a year of living in the Lower Mainland. “I must have been missing the Coast,” she recalled. “It made me start thinking of all the eccentric places that an artist might have worked in this day and age.”
Despite early training in the creative arts at a Montreal-area college, it wasn’t until 2022 that the longtime singer-songwriter (her latest album is called Sex and Bureaucracy) began to express her vision with paint. Now, she rents a studio space at The Kube gallery — which also gets her distinctive acrylic-and-resin treatment as part of the GPAG showcase.
“I kind of feel like I’m in my honeymoon phase with the paintings,” said Hart, “because my musical works tend to be a little more political. Places I’ve Worked coincides with a little bit of capitalist culture, but the rest of the works I’m doing are inspired by the beauty of where we live. I’m interested to see where I’ll go, as I’m sure we’ll hopefully be getting a little more political down the line.”
Rivers of Connection and Places I’ve Worked remain on display at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery until Dec. 22. Hart plans a musical performance at the gallery on Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. (tickets available via Eventbrite local listings).
