in Chatsworth, Grey Highlands, Southgate, West Grey
April 11, 2022
Michele Karch-Ackerman and Tanya Zaryski stand between their works at the Durham Art Gallery on April 8.
BY SOUTHGREY.CA STAFF — The latest exhibit at the Durham Art Gallery is one you don't want to miss. A collaboration by two artists working in different mediums has resulted in a unified theme.
A chance meeting of Tanya Zaryski and Michele Karch-Ackerman twenty-eight years ago lead to another connection at Karch-Ackerman's show "Bluebird Dress Factory" at the Tom Thomson Gallery in 2018.
Motivated by each other's work and similar shared interests in indepth explorations of love, nature, memory and narrative, the two formed a fast friendship between them. Both women are mothers, both deeply committed to an art practise that tugs at the heart strings.
The Rewilding show is the result of a year's worth of exploration and discovery for both artists.
Dresses hung in the gallery as well as miniature paintings of each in the Karch-Ackerman's own dui decimal system.
Karch-Ackerman's Library of Dresses is a wardrobe stitched together to honour the late female authors whose work had inspired her as a reader and as an artist. Each dress's fabric and pattern evokes one author's persona and work. Each dress has a miniature illustrated version assembled with a card explaining the reasoning behind the fabric and pattern choices and also serves as a library card for the dress. In the future, her hope is that the dresses can become an actual working library.
One wall of Zaryski's detailed paintings honouring friends and family.
Zaryski's work consist of figurative paintings and explorations honouring her friends and family, fairy tale lore, imaginative play and the 'rewilding' of her childhood self. The paintings are filled with flowers, plants, animals and birds. The detailed work is something one can immerse oneself in for hours.
Detailed paintings by Zaryski, in which animals and flowers play a predominant role.
The paintings and dresses are joyous and wonder-filled deep dives into thoughtful meaning. This is a world of magical imagination and hours of work.
If you love art and creative exploration this is an exhibit you will want to take in.
This show runs from April 8 to July 30, 2022 at the Durham Art Gallery.
Miniature paintings of each dress by Karch-Ackerman hang on one wall.
At South Grey News, we endeavour to bring you truthful and factual, up-to-date local community news in a quick and easy-to-digest format that’s free of political bias. We believe this service is more important today than ever before, as social media has given rise to misinformation, largely unchecked by big corporations who put profits ahead of their responsibilities.
South Grey News does not have the resources of a big corporation. We are a small, locally owned-and-operated organization. Research, analysis and physical attendance at public meetings and community events requires considerable effort. But contributions from readers and advertisers, however big or small, go a long way to helping us deliver positive, open and honest journalism for this community.
Please consider supporting South Grey News with a donation in lieu of a subscription fee and let us know that our efforts are appreciated. Thank you.
.jpg?updated=1625080483)
