Opening Reception: Thursday, January 10, 6 – 8 PM
Nicholas Metivier Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new paintings by Rachel MacFarlane. The exhibition will open on January 5 and will be on view through January 26 with a reception for the artist on Thursday, January 10 from 6– 8 PM. This will be MacFarlane’s second solo exhibition at the gallery.
Rachel MacFarlane is an exciting emerging Canadian artist. She graduated from Ontario College of Art and Design in 2008 where she was the recipient of the prestigious Drawing and Painting Award. Since then, MacFarlane has participated in study programs and residencies in Italy, the United States and Ireland and has had several exhibitions including a sold out solo show at the Nicholas Metivier Gallery in 2011.
MacFarlane’s process begins with small maquettes that she makes from collected and curated refuse. These maquettes are then lit, studied and used as still-lifes for the structural foundation of her oil paintings. Always evolving, MacFarlane’s recent maquettes are more intricate and colourful than before and this is reflected in the strength and complexity of her recent work.
The maquettes play an integral role in the beginning stages of the paintings however it is Macfarlane’s imaginative use of colour, pattern and scale that eventually takes over. Drawing inspiration from new technology and contemporary culture such as video games and computer graphics, MacFarlane transforms the mundane scraps of her maquettes into monumental structures situated in a surreal, maze-like environment.
While parts of MacFarlane’s compositions depict shadow and form, other areas are abstract and flatten out any sense of three-dimensionality. MacFarlane enjoys the interplay between the two effects, highlighting painting’s inability to ever truly depict real space.