News of ARTforce Collection's original collections of fine art in Vancouver, B.C.
Sherry's studio will be cleaned up and organized to show off her most recent work.
The Event takes place Saturday May 4th at studio 224, 1000 Parker Street, Vancouver.
Come to the main entrance on the East side of the building which is on George Street.
There will be lots of parking in the area.
Exploring your family history isn’t always so easy, but it can be therapeutic.
Take the ARTforce Collective, a group of mature female artists from Vancouver who a few years ago decided to launch a joint exhibit based on a common theme: How their lives had been influenced by the past.
A few of the members already had a few pieces to contribute but, as they prepared for the display at Coquitlam’s Place des Arts, they dug deeper into their genealogy.
“And what we found was the good, the bad and the ugly,” Alannah Anderson said.
Anderson’s installation centres on her grandparents’ life during the Great Depression in Maple Creek, Sask., which was captured on a Kodak Eastman Brownie camera.
For Mary Blaze, she created a collage from an old, water-stained roll of building paper that her husband wanted to throw out.
Her work includes drawings from her sketch books as well as images of her dad’s lantern and her mom’s lamp.
Meanwhile, Sherry Cooper has a series of paintings called Seedlings of Hope on Gambier Island, where her family used to have a summer cabin.
She delves into the property’s past — a journey that was “insightful and full of unexpected discoveries,” she writes in her artist’s statement.
Bernadine Fox has a painting titled The Family Way, in which she recreates a 1957 photo of two parents with three boys. She surrounds them with graffiti-like text that recounts what happened to each over the next half century: the alcoholic father leaves, the mother gets hooked on drugs and their children end up in foster care.
It is based on a true story.
Joy Hanser’s series is motivated by her 92-year-old father’s illness. She strives to honour her dad and other relatives.
“Perhaps the most astonishing surprise in this project is how much I am learning about myself and the family,” Hanser writes in her artist’s statement. “It calls for both boldness and humility, and a large dose of self- skepticism, to portray my own interpretations of the lives of these others.”
Finally, Sheila Page’s A Family at Sea explores her childhood in Howe Sound in the 1950s.
She moved to the Sunshine Coast in 1966 and returned there to work as an elementary school teacher from the early 1970s to 2002.
Anderson said she hopes the ARTforce exhibit will prompt viewers to examine their own heritage.
“We all have different pasts but what do they mean?” she asked, adding, “It’s important to share stories.”
• The opening reception for Shaped by the Past, a multi-media exhibit by ARTforce Collective, is Thursday at 7 p.m. at Place des Arts (1120 Brunette Ave., Coquitlam). Nino Dobrosavljevic will also launch his oil on canvas series, called Tribute to Arts. Both displays run until March 16.
jwarren@tricitynews.com
Here is a group exhibition presented by Sherry Cooper, Joy Hanser, Sheila Page, Alannah Anderson, Bernadine Fox and Mary Blaze of ARTforce Collective.
In the telling of our stories, we six artists find some understanding of ourselves and our places within the society we live in.
We share our discoveries in the Atrium Gallery at Place des Arts, 1120 Brunette Ave. Coquitlam, B.C. 604-664-1636. http://www.placedesarts.ca Opening Reception: 7:00-9:00pm. February 7th, 2013.
You will be amazed! 1,000 Parker street has over 150 artists in one building. There is a buzz of energy now as the artists prepare for their annual Open Studio event. Don't miss out. There are painters, printmakers, jewelry makers, pottery, sculpture, photography, furniture makers...something for everyone at affordable prices. Plan to check out the fantastic variety of art. You will find me at Studio 224. 
