The Nanaimo Art Gallery Presents “In Spirit We Are All One”

Written by Cameron Macdonald Sunday, 07 August 2011 23:43

Nanaimo, BC.- The Nanaimo Art Gallery is proud to present “In Spirit We Are All One”, featuring the work of Nadine Wiepning from August 11th through August 23rd at their downtown gallery at 150 Commercial Street. There will be an opening reception on Thursday, August 11th from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm, at which the artist will be in attendance and will give a short talk at 4:00pm. Emerging Artist Nadine Wiepning’s new body of work aims to illustrate that “everything affects everything” and that our deep interconnectedness does at once threaten and save us. This feature artist show, entitled “In Spirit We Are All One” features oil on canvas that are "abstract nature with a twist  of surrealism."

Wiepning regards her work as addressing “the wounds inflicted on the body of Gaia and therefore on all her inhabitants. We have entered a time of great upheaval, uncertainty, and massive changes, yet we hold the solutions in our hands and hearts.” Only by becoming aware of the pain and suffering of the Earth’s biosphere and its many inhabitants and transforming that anger into healing, creative Love, can we be empowered to take action to create the better world we all long for. The main piece, with the same title as the show, is a 4’ x 6’ oil on canvas with rich colour and detail to transport the viewer into a calm contemplation of our inherent interconnectedness. The artist employed different techniques to guide the viewer's eye throughout the serene painting - by using bold lines that fade away and disappear, only to be rediscovered and move along to the next image, a tree goddess or a sheer cliff splashed by waves that unfurl into the night sky. The process is very magical for the painter, as well as the viewer. This new body of work is almost ten years in the making. After graduating from the Fine Arts program at Georgian College in 2001, Wiepning took time away from painting to complete her BA Global Studies from Malaspina U-C in 2006. Since then, the state of the world and the needed solutions inspired this series of paintings.


What started out over 30 years ago, as a space to display works by fine arts students at Malaspina College has grown into a Nanaimo cultural institution. The Nanaimo Art Gallery includes two locations: the Campus Gallery is located at Vancouver Island University overlooking the City of Nanaimo, Strait of Georgia and the Coastal Mountains and the Downtown Gallery is located on Commercial Street in the heart of the Arts District in Nanaimo’s revitalised city centre. The mandate of the Nanaimo Art Gallery is to enhance the cultural environment of the Nanaimo/Central Island region through exhibitions and outreach programming that encourages active public involvement with the visual arts. The Nanaimo Art Gallery is committed to maintaining a high level of programming and professionalism and creating a balance between accessibility and artistic challenge. The Gallery is committed to being more accessible to local, regional and national professional visual artists as well as members of local arts organizations, community and cultural groups and Vancouver Island University students and teaching faculty. The Gallery is committed to exploring, investigating and broadening artistic boundaries, theoretical concepts and mediums through its exhibition programming. The Gallery is also committed to enriching the viewer’s experience and appreciation of visual arts through the interpretation and animation of public programs. The Nanaimo Art Gallery has embarked on an exciting new path for its future. In 2008, the gallery, in consultation with municipal staff, arts administrators, curators, artists, art educators and patrons, began the process of creating a vision for a new space: a state-of-the art institution, designated as a Category A public art gallery to be situated in the city’s arts district that will provide the people of this region with the highest quality exhibitions, programs and services expected of a critically important municipal art gallery. In 2010, the Nanaimo Art Gallery conducted a feasibility study towards determining a future site and achieving the Vision of A New Nanaimo Art Gallery. The gallery will continue to work together with municipal and board representatives and wishes to thank everyone who has contributed towards the Vision for A New Nanaimo Art Gallery. Visit the gallery's website at ... http://www.nanaimogallery.ca

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