Local artist Gillian Redwood used 12 large canvases and a very interesting idea for her latest exhibition.
“I’m very aware that a lot of the things that connect us to other people and that create life are invisible or unseen to our eyes,” says Redwood, whose newest exhibit looks at the connection between masculinity and femininity. “It’s those connecting energies that I’ve focused on in this exhibition.”
Redwood describes the series of paintings as a continuation of her previous works.
“The first series that I did a few years back was looking at women and the mythology of women, the next series was all about men and the roles that they take in our society,” she says. “After having done the male and the female, I then wanted to show the integration of the masculine and feminine in some way, so this show is about the concepts of the masculine and the feminine, the friends and the connections, and the way that we interact with each other.”
The connections are described by Redwood in terms of energies, radiating out, in, and around the figures, and are the common theme throughout the entire series. The inspiration for the show came from her time spent travelling and her interest in the human body at a molecular level, she says.
“I’ve done a lot of travelling and talked to many different people in many different areas of the world who have a much deeper understanding of energy,” says Redwood. “I just think it’s an amazing concept that the very tiniest particle, the very tiniest atom in our body, in our skin, in our bones… the very tiniest parts of us are actually little packets of energy, and that this can connect in all sorts of incredible ways with whatever is around us. So I wanted to include the idea of this universal energy, the universal spirit that connects everything.”
Redwood has specific techniques she uses to portray these complex concepts. “When I paint I use bold strokes to show where weight and movement create dynamism, and I use ribbons of bright colour to indicate the streams of energy,” she says. “For example, in some of the paintings there are kind of streams of gold coming from the sky, through the people, and into the ground.”
Redwood learned the techniques she uses in all of her work years ago at the beginning of her artistic life. As a teenager, she attended arts school after graduating high school.
“What I learned then has really been the foundation of my painting now, and in those days I was under the direction of some very fine abstract artists,” she says. “They gave me grounding in colour, line, form, and gesture.”
Redwood graduated in 1969 but didn’t pursue full-time artistry until 2003 after she had raised her three children.
“I worked in different areas of commercial art along the way, but in the background I’ve always been painting. I was doing that right up until 10 years ago when I just decided that if I was going to be a full-time artist, I had better get on and do it,” says Redwood. “So I gave up my job, and I’ve been full-time since then.”
There was no turning back, and that’s good, as Redwood has since completed a number of works and exhibited them in solo shows.
“I suppose it’s the realization of my life’s work to do these paintings,” she says. “So, yeah, I’m excited about it.”
Energetic Universe
Opens 7 pm Saturday, February 7, runs until March 5
Martin Batchelor Gallery
martinbatchelorgallery.ca