Exhibitions
VISAC offers 6 to 8 exhibitions each year.
The exhibitions are carefully planned to support and promote emerging and established artists from the Boundary/Kootenay region.
The gallery and studios have grown had many different renovations happen over the years. Have you seen it recently? Come check it out we are very proud of our upgraded facilities.
The Gallery and workspace is available for meetings and events!
To inquire about rental space please email: info@visacgallery.com
Contact us with any questions or interest you have in exhibiting: info@visacgallery.com
Current Exhibition
Everything Became Beautiful by Erica Konrad
Exhibition Opening Date: September 14, 2023
Youth Class led by Erica: October 12, 2023
Evening Reception: Friday, October 13, 2023 6 - 8 PM at VISAC
Exhibition Closing Date: October 26, 2023
Artist Statement
My current body of work is based on my interpretation of animal and plant cells. The work is inspired by my recent journey through breast cancer and healing, with the core of my work being a contradiction between fragility and strength. The direction I took marks a paradigm shift in my work, with a focus on installation, colour, forms and patterns linking the micro and macro worlds.
After facing my own mortality, all things around me became beautiful, the natural world and its beauty was amplified. I went into nature to heal, hiking mountains and visiting the ocean, taking photographs of plants, shapes and colours. Because plants have rigid cell walls and do not die from cancer, I felt particularly drawn to studying them. This paired with research on microscopic images of cells, led to the inspiration for this body of work. Exploring the connections between science and art, I focussed on merging the rational with the abstract. As everything happens at the cellular level, I was acutely aware of the profound effects these tiny cells have on human consciousness and how one cell gone wrong can alter someone’s life. Dissecting the cell structure and reassembling the elements into something beautiful is my attempt to document the journey.
Pairing natural material (paper and wax) with plastic (plexiglass and mylar) was deliberate to contrast healing to the disease. Rigid forms that morph into a flowing mass signifies the tension between order and chaos and the feeling of being out of control, and the importance of letting go. These cells could belong to anyone and everyone. “Everything Became Beautiful” is a love letter to healthy cells, and a personal testament to courageously moving forward into new territory.
Funding for this work was generously provided by: Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance and the Columbia Basin Trust
About Erica
Erica Konrad is a visual artist, living, working and creating on the traditional unceded territory of the Ktunaxa, Sinixt (Lakes), and Syilx (Okanagan) Nations, in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. Her background is a formal University education in Environmental Studies, which has laid the foundation for her intense inspiration from the natural world.
Konrad is mostly self taught, working in oil, acrylic and encaustic, having attended international workshops on encaustic and local and provincial courses on painting. She has taught children earth art, teenagers painting and adults encaustic.
When not painting, she is engaged in supporting other artists. Konrad founded and runs The Narrows Art Retreat - an Artist Residency centre, focussing on artist residencies, workshops and gatherings to promote and encourage artistic innovation.
She maintains an active studio practice creating artwork for public and private collections.
Visit Erica's website for more information and to see her other work!