In UNKNOWN DESTINATIONS, Laura Demers interprets photographic collage in painting. Landscapes are fragmented, suggesting space that is askew in memory. The unusual details that linger in thoughts of place – an odd morsel of texture, a peculiar colour, a curious snippet of foliage – evoke scenes that entirely displace the viewer. Demers plays with an illusion of vertigo, foregoing the horizon in her many painted worlds.
Unknown Destinations speaks about the land, and illustrates how one may envision and experience it, physically, psychologically and metaphorically. The viewer travels into a surreal, deserted, yet lush universe that is vibrant with movement and vivid colour. Unknown Destinations provides an escape from our habitual environment, and yet questions its own persistence and reality. In the depicted scenes, the wilderness is in a state of turmoil, upheaval, disruption. The land is fragmented, abstracted; the view is obstructed, often obliterated. There is no oasis. The prolific vegetation and dense atmosphere in the vistas and panoramas is deception, phantasmagoria. That is in part what my work addresses: the process of transforming, unearthing, and bringing improbable images to life, through painting. - Laura Demers
Vernissage: October 8, 2015
Exhibition: October 8 - October 25, 2015
