Opening reception: Thursday, September 16th, 6 – 8 pm. Exhibition runs to October 30, 2010.
In her work, Gwenessa Lam explores the intersection between the perception, memory, and representation of place. Drawing from notions of the uncanny, her paintings depict darkened interiors and shadows cast from everyday objects. Furniture pieces and other items are distorted to varying degrees, straddling the familiar and ambiguous, animate and inanimate. As a visual trace, shadows normally register the physical presence of an object or being; the subsequent absence of things conveys a sense of dislocation and alienation. These works imprint the fleeting nature of the shadow as an index and residue of what was formerly present, tapping into the psychological space of the shadow as the double or alter-ego of a parallel reality. In this way, they attempt to make visible the unseen markers that can shape our surroundings and our impressions of them.
Shadow will be on show September 16th through October 30th with an artist reception on Thursday, September 16th, 6-8pm. Regular gallery hours are 11am-5pm, Wednesday through Saturday, and by appointment.
Gwenessa Lam is a visual artist and educator. Gwenessa received her BFA from the University of British Columbia and MFA from New York University. She has taught at New York University, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, the University of British Columbia, and the Art Institute of Vancouver. She has attended residencies at Skowhegan, MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the Banff Centre. Her work has been exhibited at the Bronx Museum of Art and the Queens Museum of Art in New York. This is Gwenessa’s second solo show with Republic Gallery.
REPUBLIC GALLERY
732 Richards St, 3rd Floor, Vancouver | Wed – Sat, 11am – 5pm & by appointment
www.republicgallery.com | +1.604.632.1590
