Posts Tagged ‘exhibit’

We’re very excited to be putting up Beth’s show today! I just wanted to post some images of Beth’s work and her artist statement for the curious ones. For even more about this Toronto artist, see her website.

Artist Statement:
As somebody drawn to narrative, I am fascinated by human actions and how they tell a story. I like portraying gesture in my work: ritualistic movements that can represent meaningful events, but at the same time, may be interpreted as commonplace actions. The figures are often faceless, thus removing information for the viewer and reducing the characters to their physical actions rather than their emotional reactions. The stories become ambiguous: what is sombre may also be joyful; what is light-hearted and whimsical may also be deeply morbid.

I primarily work with pen and ink, accented with coloured marker to build layers of fine details on paper. My subjects are small and childlike (although not necessarily children themselves), and display a naïveté in their interactions with the physical world and with each other. The landscape I borrow from fairy tales and popular children’s literature to create a familiar yet fantastical set. The references to children’s worlds intend to mimic the first time seeing or experiencing an event, to build a world where that initial sense of wonder is mixed in with intense feelings of sadness, celebration, or desire.

I’m often inspired by religious art and mythology and the depiction of its subjects as vulnerable and sensitive beings in their relationship with the divine. What is striking to me in these works is the approach in which the artist transforms an abstract spiritual belief into physical actions where the subjects become physical embodiments of the artist’s understanding of the metaphysical. I am interested in art that is a vessel for exploring questions of existence and the relationship to everyday life. I also like to relate Biblical stories and fairy tales in that share a common thread in giving moral lessons and explaining the world amidst a backdrop of the supernatural or the unknown.

Beth Frey, September 2010

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Now some images to entice you!