Remnants of a Shifted World
Artists: Ben S, Dakota F, Dakota R, Mackenzie D, Marielle L, Matthew H, Matthew M-M, Paige H
Curator: Jaclyn Quaresma
June 18, 2021 - September 3, 2021
How have youth today adapted to illness, isolation, heightened anxiety and the abrupt turn towards the digital, at this transitional time in their lives when so much for them is already uncertain? Informed by youthful conviction, new tenets for the future are formed in collaboration among these peer artists living in Meaford and Thornbury, Ontario.
The artists explore the impact of the pandemic on both themselves and their greater environments. Ranging from personal experiences to broader social issues, the artists consider the ways the world has shifted around them. Spanning from acrylic to digital, they utilize these media to express their existing and new found perspectives. How do the remnants of this shifted world inform the future they will inherit?
A Note from Signy Teague and GBCS
Situated beside the Niagara Escarpment on the shores of Georgian Bay in the heart of apple country, Georgian Bay Community School is a wonderful place to learn and grow. We are a small school that prides itself in a strong sense of community and connection.
Founded in 1891 as the Meaford High School, this spring’s graduating class of 2021 is the last group to walk the halls of our current building. Next year we move up the street to a brand-new k-12 school. Finishing up high school during a global pandemic has been quite a challenge for staff and students. The resiliency of this graduating class has been second to none.
The opportunity to creatively express the challenges of living and learning in quarantine has helped the grade 12 art students to process this moment in history. GBCS sends a thank you to curator Jaclyn Quaresma and the Durham Art Gallery for providing the guidance and space for this talented group of students to make art that is both meaningful and healing.
Please click on the image for a video introduction
BEN S.
I’m a Canadian artist in Meaford, Ontario. I have been creating art since I was thirteen years old, and I started by making artwork of movie characters or musicians. Most of the time I use pencil or pens. There are odd times I will use paint for my art, but it's not my favorite medium to use. As time went by, I began to create more detail in my art, and I began to start making abstract pieces. I started getting more interested in abstract expressionism artwork. I'm alone when I create art and often at times, I keep them to myself I don’t often show it to other people.
I take inspiration from artists such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning for my abstract art, and for my artwork of characters and musicians, though I wasn’t inspired by anyone I attempted that on my own. Art was always something peaceful and easy for me to go to whenever I wanted to sit down and relax.
WhenI was in the process of creating this artwork, Iwasn’t tryingto make this artwork seemvery happy orenergetic. This artwork is supposed to represent how most people are feelingor have felt in the past year and a half.Some people have had a negative feeling or a feeling of sadness.People have even felt trapped. That’sthe feelingthat is being represented in my artwork. I tried to capture the feeling of sadness through abstract expressionism.
DAKOTA F.
I identify as they/them and queer. I am 17. I've been drawing for as long as I can remember and only recently moved to digital art. I think I started it about a year or two ago and have been doing it off and on; meaning that I only tend to do it when I have the inspiration for it. I even taught a small class digital art. I also love to create edits/gif edits and sometimes I'll combine digital art and my edits.
This piece was inspired by my coming out during Quarantine. The hallway is meant to represent the withdrawal of Quarantine while the different colours of the walls show the confusion and various feelings I had while trying to uncover who I was. The person is supposed to me, just a shadow version since I wanted it to pop against the background. The glow around the person is pride flags. The rainbow one shows my sexuality (queer) while the yellow, white, purple, and black show the Non-binary pride colours; my gender (or lack thereof rather) is Non-binary.
DAKOTA R.
Born and raised in southern Ontario, currently attending GBCS. Growing up, Dakota loved all aspects of nature and the natural outdoors. The untouched beauty found in various landscapes initially led to Dakota’s love for symbolistic art. Art has no boundaries or definition and creates a welcoming space full of passion. Throughout her life, Dakota has always found comfort and love in the performing arts. Earning the 2020 Tiger Lilly Movement Classical Ballet Training Scholarship has allowed Dakota to pursue her passion for the arts while inspiring young students within the studio to do so as well. This year Dakota has moved out of her comfort zone and began exploring visual arts. Though she hasn’t been holding a paintbrush for long, Dakota deeply enjoys working with both watercolour and acrylic to portray her thoughts and emotions.
Dakota hopes her passion and exploration of various art styles will inspire others to use the arts as a healthy outlet for personal stress and anxiety. The artist community is a welcoming group of people that empowers others to celebrate themselves as individuals. It has created a safe space where anyone can share their thoughts and feelings without having to put them into words. Dakota encourages others to join the wonderful world of art and hopes they find limitless empowerment through the community.
MACKENZIE D.
I am a student artist born in Owen Sound, attending school in Meaford, Ontario. Living in an area surrounded by sprawling shorelines, blankets of forest and meadows, I have come to have an appreciation of nature’s beauty. This beauty can be perceived in many different ways by different people which fascinates me. This fascination with perception and beauty is reflected in my style which draws inspiration from the impressionism of the late 19th century (such as that of Mary Cassatt and Édouard Manet).
My preferred mediums are acrylic paint and drawing pencil, which I use to create my pieces which consist heavily of portraits that reflect the beauty of human nature and the complexities of light. I was introduced to impressionism at the G.B.C.S. art program under the tutelage of Signy Teague, who helped me develop my acrylic technique and tastes.
MARIELLE L.
Born in Annecy, France and currently based in Meaford, Ontario, Marielle attends Georgian Bay Secondary School. Her passion for art began at a very early age, growing up in Venice, and in the south of France – an area where many famous artists found their light. She was surrounded by art in her home as well, as her father was a bronze sculptor, and a variety of art supplies were always provided to her. She was initially inspired by Japanese Manga and Anime art, helping her develop her sketching abilities. She has continued to build her interest in drawing the human figure by refining her portrait skills. Her currently preferred art mediums are acrylic, pencil and water colour but she uses all mediums in hope of conveying her emotions and interpretation of the world through her work
This piece, painted in acrylic, gel pen and gold leaf poses the question;“How will you react to a confining situation?”. The two figures portray the two opposite reactions –benevolently comforting others or needing support and comfort from others. The top figure, coloured warmly with byzantine gold leaf, represents the warm energy of comforting support.
In opposition, the lower figure surrounded by cooler, darker colours, shows the overwrought circumstances of a distraught individual. The excess of colours and brush strokes illustrate the overthinking occurring in their mind.The silver ring around the second figure’s head represents the small sliver of hope protecting them from succumbing to their negative feelings all around them.
MATTHEW H.
I am a Canadian artist working out of Thornburry Ontario. I have been making art for the majority of my life. I started making illustrations and character drawings using pen and pencil. As I grew in my skills, I developed an interest in animation and digital painting, at this point I started doing freelance work in the fields mentioned above. During this time, I started getting into the online art community and learned new techniques and styles that I never knew existed. My art draws a lot of inspiration from artists such as Vexx or Colin Elgie for the illustration side and Yutaka Nakamura for animation. Art has always been a major part of my life and something that has been an immense creative outlet for me. When people look at my art, I want them to see an interesting and different perspectives on views of life.
For my piece I wanted to take a look at space travel paradox in relations to changes covid
brought to our day to day lives. The space travel paradox is an issue with long distance space travel. The idea is one spaceship is leaving on a 500 year journey to another habitable planet, this spaceship will hold generations of people fully living their lives in hopes their distant ascendants will colonize this new planet. When this spaceship arrives they discover a fully developed civilization built by humans. Fifty years after the first rocket was launched they invented a way to travel that only took twenty years to
arrive, thus making ship one’s journey pointless. On that ship, you will have no way of knowing if you are going to find an undiscovered planet or a major human population. The only thing you can do is hope that no matter what things are going to be better for everyone. We have been stuck in lockdown for over a year, we all feel helpless to what happens to the world but the best we can do is try to make things better and maybe we can.
MATTHEW M.
My name is Matthew Markle-Matthews, I was born in Owen Sound, ON and grew up in the surrounding area. I am a grade twelve art student who enjoys hiking, swimming, photography, animals, exercise and art, and love incorporating pieces or things that have happened throughout my day to day life into my art. Patterns, complementary colours, monochromatic scales and balance can all been seen in my pieces. However there will be times when I feel as though simplicity and organization is not the ideal way to go, and having a messy page and allow myself to let go and just draw what comes to mind, opening up new ideas and thoughts. All in all I am a fun, creative and energetic person to be around, I do prefer water colour and pencil sketches, but still enjoy all art media.
PAIGE H.
Born in Toronto Canada and currently living in Meaford Ontario, Paige is a student at Georgian Bay. Art has been a priority for Paige since she was young. Along with visual art, Paige practices her passion with photography, film and music. Though she loves all forms of visual arts, portrait work is her favourite in all artistic fields. Capturing emotion and stories through the faces of her art is a reoccurring visual that is consistent with most of her pieces.
When it comes to a main theme of her art, dark and uncomfortable emotions are what she tends to lean to, as shedding light to all emotion is important to her. When painting, her preferred medium is oil as it works best for her portrait pieces when it comes to blending.