For the month of April, Arbor Gallery proudly presents a duo exhibition titled “Surfaces, Depths and In-betweens” by Montréal artists Shelley Freeman and Wendy A. Thomas, who grew up together in Hudson Heights, QC.
Freeman studied at York University, Toronto, and eventually moved to Montréal where she obtained a B.F.A. from Concordia University. For years, she pursued both a social work career and her art practice, while actively involved in the art milieu. Thomas obtained her B.A. (Visual Arts) and M.A. also from York University. After returning to Montréal, she spent her career in the museum field and with Canadian Heritage, while developing her painting.
“Surfaces, Depths and In-betweens” is a fascinating mélange of the artists’ genres that superbly highlights the commonality of their focus and reflection. While Freeman’s nature-based artwork focuses on hidden and empty spaces existing underground, Thomas’s explores scale and perception in her urban environment—concrete pedestrian overpass walls and sidewalks—and of aerial views. The works of both artists reveal the traces of the distant and the more recent past.
Freeman is “intrigued by the link between the concept of illusion and the dimension of depth.” Her semi-abstract paintings suggest slow natural change, while metaphorically “evoking the forbidden world, separations, fusions and the exploration of self.” Inspiration for her paintings comes from photos taken while travelling and caving. Her work has appeared in numerous solo and group exhibitions, and figures in public and private collections in Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, USA, and Wales.
Thomas’s semi-abstract paintings offer “new ways to look beyond the surface and the first impression to recognize other interpretations and diverse realities. One can find beauty and diversity in something as simple as what we happen to pass by or walk over.” Thomas is inspired by the ambiguity of the compositions she photographs. She has exhibited in several solo and group shows, and her paintings are in private collections in Canada and the United States.
The exhibition runs until April 28. Vernissage: Saturday, April 6, 1pm-3pm. Arbor Gallery is open Wednesday to Sunday, from noon to 4pm. Finissage: Sunday, April 28, 1pm-pm.
