fbpx

About Exhibitions

Exhibitions encourage public engagement, bridging cultures and building strong communities through the arts.

image by Suzanna Orlova
Suzanna Orlova: Spells | District Library Gallery | Apr 11 – Jun 4
April 11 - June 4, 2018
District Library Gallery
<b>Hours</b> Monday - Friday 9am-9pm | Sat 9am-5pm | Sun 12-5pm

painting by Suzanna Orlova

Artist Reception:  Sat, May 5, 2-4pm

Spells: the outcomes of hypnotic trance states with an indefinite period or duration – the way I feel the painting process itself and the artworks being born as a result. Every Spell is inspired by untold stories of people, animals and sometimes non-living entities.  After the Spell is painted, the story behind it is not untold anymore. I consider myself a story teller narrating in a wordless manner, using a paintbrush instead. A story teller who paints stories in black and red..

Spells is a solo exhibition of paintings by Suzanna Orlova created in watercolours, inks, and oils. This exhibition offers a scope of some of the “stories” Orlova’s artworks tell. Tales of life and death, moments of pain and delight, disturbing or calm by manner, representing something inside, previously untold and unheard which is finally born with an agony, or just after having another cup of coffee.

Suzanna Orlova is a Vancouver Island-based visual artist known for her black and red paintings and portraits of people created in gestural and symbolic style. Born colour blind, but despite that fact, she was interested in painting since a young age. Having difficulty finding a tutor willing to train a colour blind painter, she is mainly self taught.

Her artworks each contain a subconscious message inside them, not always
immediately understood from first glance, gradually revealed through the pose, concept, and composition. Using at times a surrealistic approach, she depicts her models as struggling and vulnerable beings, emphasizing the idea of inevitability of death and persistence of life.