April 18th is the opening night for the epic State of the Art week long exhibit at Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival 2009...

Arleigh Wood

Bio::

Arleigh Wood studied at Concordia University in Montreal and the University
of Hertfordshire in St Albans UK, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts
with Honours. Wood has participated extensively in national and
international exhibitions. Her work is in private and corporate collection
and has been featured hotels and in various interior design magazines
including Canadian House and Home. Wood¹s paintings have also been used in
films and television shows like the ³Designer Guys². When she is not working
in her Vancouver studio, Wood enjoys fast-paced urban explorations and
peaceful natural escapes.
 

Artist Statement:
  
The clever and mischievous crow comes out to play my work.  The dark bird
represents the urban scavenger surviving and thriving on what the city has
left behind.  In the work we see the crow as a self-portrait, a depiction of
a creature living in both the urban world and one wishing to fly freely in
pristine nature.  It is in this place, where these two sides meet, that my
artwork is born.
 
Comprised from a series of specific images that are characteristic of my
initial vision, I utilize photography to capture visible impressions during
my travels and in my daily encounters. My mixed media process distills the
initial photographic image into a multilayered composition that includes
various painting, collage, and printing techniques. Oils, acrylic, and
especially the application of encaustic (wax media) alter appearance of the
original photograph. Details are highlighted by scratching back into the
surfaces, while silkscreen, etching, and woodcuts are used to create
emblematic patterns and repetitive imagery.

These ethereal and romantic images are not depictions of the past or the
future but exist somewhere in between, floating in memory and dreams. My
perspective often becomes more like peeking into an imaginary realm. For me
this is a metaphor for the lyricism of our changing world and the constancy
of humanity¹s need for space. Residential development, shrinking farmlands,
gentrification of neighbourhoods, and the loss of history are all concerns
that I summarize through symbols of cyclic change. My imagery is simplified
into a quiet poetic understanding of encroachment and the displacement of
species, including humans.

 

My Japanese heritage and Western 
upbringing serve as another analogy 
for my outlook which seeks to balance
the Zen like qualities of simplicity 
and tranquility with the everyday 
aspect of living in an urban core. 
Delicate lines with bold shapes, 
roughly treated textured surfaces 
that juxtapose slick and shiny 
painted grounds become a literal 
extension of my day-to-day
experiences.