A Saskatchewan artist is trying to bring light to dark spaces at a local gallery.
"Illuminated Spaces" is the title of Carri J. McKinnon's transformational exhibition currently on display at the Signal Hill Arts Centre Gallery.
These works are photo transfers, mixed media, acrylic on Masonite and digitally reproduced photos.
McKinnon, who hails from Bienfait, is inspired by the emotional pull and visual poetry of forgotten places. She coaxes them back into focus with high contrast imagery and patterns created by prairie sunlight and shadows, shaping the stark spaces. These attractive patterns draw her in and she pays it forward to her viewers.
"When bright sunlight steals into an abandoned structure, the dark corner is illuminated," said McKinnon. "That transformation fascinates and intrigues me."
"The sunlight, impartial to the quality or substance in its path, bathes the space causing it to reveal itself in a total new way. My work is meant to invite the viewer in. Silvery light draws the viewer in to the spaces I have discovered, then recreated."
McKinnon goes on to say that when inhabitants of a home move-on the structure stays behind but the house, itself, is left with the psychic remnant of its former occupants. It becomes a connection - from the earth, through the structure, to the people.
In cases where the home is not re-inhabited, the building continues its degenerative life cycle, deteriorating, in a figurative sense, as a living, breathing human doescurtains blowing in the wind, old rocking chair creaking gently, blinds flapping, roof caving, gusts of glimmering dust fragments from the rafters and powdery motes floating in shafts of brilliant sunlight.
The radiance in these forgotten spaces enchants McKinnon and charms her to investigate further. The highlights and deep shadows inspire her to create works that will capture the quality of a moment suspended in time and space.
McKinnon's works are available for viewing Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 10 p.m. and Friday, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. from November 4 to December 22.
