Star-crossed artists Julien Loiselle and Aram Heinze are teaming up for Birds of a Feather, an art exhibition about women, birds, the conflict between beauty and inner demons, and taking flight.
The luck of the draw brought Loiselle and Heinze together when they started working together at Spinnakers Brewpub.
“Once we realized we were both artists, we got talking and realized we had a lot in common artistically, taste-wise,” says Heinze. “We both grew up from different artistic backgrounds, but seem to still have a similar artistic voice.”
For Heinze it was his parents’ artistic influence, art supplies, Spider-Man comics, and album covers that influenced his artistic direction. Loiselle, on the other hand, spent time in front of the television studying Saturday-morning cartoons and finding his own inspirations to start on his artistic path.
“Aram’s classical styles and trained techniques of his artwork really inspire me,” says Loiselle. “One of my goals with this art exhibit is to help expose him in the local art community.”
Other than these two artists flocking together, another reason for the name Birds of a Feather is because Heinze’s subject matter is mainly bird and human anatomy fused together, while Loiselle’s is mainly women (to use the lingo of a long-gone era, “birds”).
“The pieces for the show have a lot to do with identity,” says Heinze. “There is symbolism with the birds being able to take flight and how us humans create identities for ourselves and what we want to become or be a part of. A lot of times we want to be more than we are.”
Heinze used classical styles like the old masters, using dark shadows and light highlights for his Birds of a Feather series.
“Similar to Rembrandt, I am focusing on the face while creating rougher brushstrokes for the parts that fall into the shadows, similar to creating a depth of field with a camera,” says Heinze.
Loiselle’s last exhibit was his Robot Army series, displayed at Sugar in 2009; he’s only done commission pieces since then. He’s conjured up some ideas reflecting things he’s noticed in society and feels like it’s time to share those ideas through paintings.
“One of my pieces is called No Longer Haunted By Her Past, She Set Her Sights Towards Her Future, which features a girl ignoring all of these mean-looking ghosts all around her, and is a message to stay positive,” explains Loiselle.
The two artists have similar backgrounds with regards to music and lifestyle but have influenced each other with their unique techniques.
“I come from a graffiti background, and he comes from a fine arts background,” says Loiselle. “I feel that we have influenced each other, with Aram sharing his classical techniques, and me helping him find his artistic voice.”
Birds of a Feather
Until March 31
Incite Screenprinting, 2514 Douglas Street
mergedesigns.ca/incite