On now at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Arts’ Members’ Gallery: ‘Lakeshore Meditations’ by Marguerite MacIntosh. This exhibitions is on display at the Alternator until Saturday, February 22th, 2025.
18.02.23 by Margueritte MacIntosh. Image courtesy of the artist.
This series of paintings grew from the artist’s practice of walks from her home through the Trout Creek neighbourhood in Summerland. MacIntosh’s regular walk skirts along the shore of Lake Okanagan where she makes an intentional pause to sit near water’s edge and look across the lake to the opposite shore. This pause is documented with a set of photographs of shore, lake, land and sky. The time of day and the frequency of walks varies with climate, road conditions and travel interruptions, yet they constitute an ongoing form of ritual that has been followed by the artist for over two years. The process of creating the multi-layered, formatted, abstract studio paintings serves as a contemplative exercise that incorporates the photographed lake and landscape colours. Each work includes intentional, constrained elements and spontaneous, intuitive interactions. As a group they form a visual inventory and meditation on particular moments at a particular place in the tradition of episodic series by artists such as Claude Monet and On Kawara.
“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.”
The contrast of gridded/random dots and solid/expressive colours speak to the interface of life’s predictability and uncertainty. Consideration of liminal spaces such as the now between past and future, our bodies between our inner and outer worlds, and the intersection and interplay between physical and spiritual realities inform much of MacIntosh’s art practice. Her background in architecture, which deals with both the interface of the built environment within the landscape and the lived experience within built spaces, is evidenced in her use of clear geometric elements in conversation with gestural mark making and loose painterly brushstrokes.
On February 7th from 6-8pm join us in an opening reception featuring light snacks and refreshments. This event is free and open to the public.