Haven

Noemi de Bruijn, David Scott and Wendy Struck

December 5, 2019–February 1, 2020

Mankind creates indelible attachments and associations with spaces and buildings, especially houses. These places represent more than just physical structures or markers on a map. In this intricate exhibition, three diverse Alberta artists explore themes of belonging, displacement\longing and abandonment.

Mexican-Canadian artist, Noemi de Bruijn assembles multilayered narratives flooded with potent symbolism. De Bruijn’s systematic approach uses a variety of media and imagery from her childhood, current events and imagination, to produce works that trigger nostalgia, caution and reflection.

A love of the local landscape led St. Albert painter David Scott to explore the crumbling, dilapidated homesteads that pepper the Albertan landscape. This journey became part of his artistic process, producing richly detailed, yet ghostlike paintings of these decaying structures that communicate the unavoidable passage of time.

Wendy Struck (Medicine Hat) creates hybrid paintings/sculptures. These works manifest as tabletop environments in the form of houses and interiors among landscapes and maps. Using a plethora of imagery, they interpret the emotional experience of place and time, and consider the individuals’ relationship to the outside world.

Image credits: David Scott, Range Road, mixed media on birch panel, 40 x 60”, 2018; Wendy Struck, Floor Plan, deconstructed toy house, latex, acrylic and altered toys, 9 x 18.5 x 11”, 2017; Noemi De Bruijn , I’d miss my bed the most, acrylic, oil, charcoal and graphite on canvas, 5×5’, 2017.