It’s the night before Kriss’s show and I am just putzing around the Gallery getting ready for, what will be, the last show of the year. I wanted to capture some photos of her artwork before tomorrows exhibit, as pieces do have a habit of exiting the Gallery undocumented – with their little red dots. I also like to create a walkthrough video as a record of the show, and I always try and find a quiet time to do this so I can have a little uninterrupted commentary on each artists work.

Kriss and I hung the show yesterday with her husband Shawn and it all went very smoothly. Always nice when the artists are as organized as they are talented. Here’s Kriss

with several of her new geometric pieces for the exhibit which she has named “Hard and Soft Edges”. These paintings are a departure from her usual realist landscape paintings & textile art and are from a series she calls “Interrupting the Program” which was “born out of a desire to surprise myself and others with whatever image resulted when I intuited that it was “finished”. In her own words:“I set myself the task of using only three primary colours and taping the canvas  in a geometric composition that was pleasing to me. I then filled the untaped  portions in a manner that was somewhat random, removed the tape and taped the painting again in another configuration. I painted the untaped shapes again, using the same three primary colours. Some of the paintings were taped and re-taped three or four times and overpainted each time.

As I progressed in  the series, I began to incorporate images I had seen during the day,  images which arrested me due to their  graphic qualities – “Bernadette’s Coat” is the first example of that: after I ran into Bernadette who was wearing a  deep blue coat with white polka dots and a beautifully woven red, black and white scarf, I immediately returned to my studio and laid down tapes and painted. It was after painting that image that I  also allowed more white back into the compositions.

I also “broke” my “rule” about using three primary colours, I realize!

While I was working on the “hard edge” paintings, I was also working on textile pieces, a

process which has often been more intuitive for me, in that I often do not initially know what these softer pieces will look like when fully realized.

And that is one story about how the exhibition “Hard and Soft Edges” came to fruition!

Kriss’s diverse array of talents were nurtured by her extensive travel and broad array of life experiences which “informed her art and enriched her visual vocabulary”. This  vision has been supported with a thorough educational background in “drawing, painting and creative process at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design,Vancouver, BC, and Langara College.” She also “took  part time courses toward a  Diploma in Advanced Textile Arts at Capilano University, North Vancouver, BC. , which built upon the needlework skills she had been taught by her mother and grandmother”.

Here is another beautiful mixed media piece called “Boats and Sun” which will be at the show…

Here are a few words from Kriss’s Bio which attest to the diversity of experience which has broadened and deepened her artistic expression, and added excitement to her expression…

“I was honoured to be asked by Tania Godoroja to assist her in painting the Canadian mural for the “World Wall Project” , curated by Judy Baca of SPARCinLA.  Tania’s  imagery of a “World without Fear” resonated for me : our continuing depredation of the natural world has created a culture of fear throughout the world and Tania’s thoughtful vision of how we can heal the wounds and create a new/old paradigm of respectful co-existence with the land and all of our citizens inspires me. I happily spent two summers in the “Tractor Shed” on Mayne Island, BC assisting her in the realization of that  vision. The mural, “The Inuit Sent Us a Canary” , was showcased from July- October 2017 at the SPARCinLA Museum in VeniceBeach, California.

I have also worked as an editor for a legal journal, legal researcher, environmental lawyer , a set-painter, a seamstress, a knit-wear designer, a freelance sweater repair person, a sales person, and was the executive director of ARTROPOLIS 2003 – an  exhibition held in the CBC -TV studios in  Vancouver, showcasing the work of over 500 artists from the province of British Columbia in Canada. For several years, I volunteered as “the sewing lady” at a downtown Vancouver free clothing shop serving very marginalized people.  There, I also hosted sewing bees.  The diverse skills of the participants were  showcased in a quilt that was auctioned at a fund raiser for the community.

I am excited by colour, gesture and expressiveness. I am moved by the panorama of each day and always grateful to be able to share that excitement through my art.”

If you’d like a preview or, are unable to visit the show in person, here is a walkthrough video of what is currently on the walls of Shavasana Art Gallery & Café:

• For a selection of images of paint and textile work by Kriss Boggild, please visit www.krissboggild.ca