Get Noticed 2024! /  by Lucia Volker

I’m really honoured to have my piece “2023.12” selected for the Get Noticed 2024 exhibition at Red Head Gallery in Toronto.

Curated by Na’ama Freeman and Erin Szikora, this exhibition features the work of 18 artists in the gallery, and additional artists for the online addition.

Curatorial Statement by Na’ama Freeman and Erin Szikora:

“In reviewing the submissions for this year’s Get Noticed, we were deeply impressed by the creativity, diversity of mediums, and technical skill shared across artists. This made our task both challenging and incredibly rewarding. Throughout the process our aim was to showcase a wide range of artworks across mediums, reflective of the diverse artistic practices seen today. Slowly, a thread began to emerge – one centered on personal narrative, fleeting intimacy, and the tacit connections that bind us all together. The final selection embodies this shared pulse, capturing a spectrum of voices, experiences, and perspectives through distinct expressions of colour and form. We hope you enjoy this collection and perhaps find that it invites reflection on the ways which art can speak to the complexities that shape our lives.”

The Red Head Gallery

401 Richmond St West, Suite 115, Toronto, ON M5V 3A8 Dec 4-21, 2024

www.redheadgallery.org

“2023.12” acrylic and pencil crayon on mounted panel 24”x18” 2023

Now available through Red Head Gallery. Please reach out to the gallery for inquires.

Little Gems 2024 /  by Lucia Volker

Join us for a festive group show and sale featuring over 100 local artists. As work sells, artists will bring new work to the gallery.

LITTLE GEMS
Victoria Arts Council in partnership with The Bay Centre
1150 Douglas Street | lower level, across from Winners
(wheelchair accessible)

3-22 December 2024

Open Tuesday – Sunday 12-5

https://vicartscouncil.ca/2024/10/23/little-gems24/

PRINT Victoria Open House /  by Lucia Volker

Join us next Saturday Nov 19, 2022, for the annual Arts and Industry Rock Bay Square Open House. PRINT Victoria, of which I am a member, will be open from 11-6pm. Come by look at print based work by myself and many of the members, and pick up some new work for your collection!

Rock Bay Square is home to many artists and creative businesses in Victoria, and this is a busy and a really fun art event.


Art Background /  by Lucia Volker

I’ve been meeting a lot of new people lately and getting some questions about my art background. Here’s the short version, but more in depth than what you can find on my CV :)

I have always been interested in color and pattern. Even as a kid I was drawing lines, dots and making color studies in crayon. As I grew older I got more serious about drawing and mark making. My high school art teacher was a printmaker, so I started experimenting with printmaking as a teenager.

When I arrived for my first semester at university wanting to study painting, I noticed most of the paintings I saw in the department were figurative. I knew that was not going to be a good fit for me. At some point during my first year, there was an exhibition in the student gallery featuring work from the printmaking department. The work was so exciting! Complex, layered, abstract, sculptural, I was hooked. I also wanted to learn a specific technical skill set that I would not having the opportunity to learn with university level intensity elsewhere.

Screenprinting stole my heart, and for many years it was my primary process. I started doing some painting when I moved to Portland in 2014, but then started printing again when I joined Flight 64 Studio. I have been a member of Saltgrass Printmakers in Salt Lake City, Flight 64 Studio in Portland, and I am now a member of PRINT in Victoria, BC.

For the past five years I have been focused on painting and site specific art installations. When I start a painting, I often think in terms of layers, which is my print training shining through. Certain print elements such as repetition, the idea of multiples and utilizing the transparency and opacity of materials remains at the core of my creative practice.

I have lived in Utah, Oregon, Washington, and I now live in Victoria, BC, Canada. I’m currently influenced by interior design, architecture, surface design, minimalism, color theory, the emotive quality of color, and formal principles of design. Sometimes I make paintings influenced by my surroundings, and I found great comfort in painting about the landscape during the pandemic.

Now I’m introducing some new elements and intentionally using a more vibrant color palette. Stay tuned for more information about my new paintings! Sign up for my mailing list for exhibition and event information, and follow me on Instagram for studio musings.

https://www.instagram.com/lucyvolker/?hl=en

Final piece in "Moments of Reflection" /  by Lucia Volker

The third piece in my popup show at Erosion SLC, is reviewed as follows:

“The final piece from “Moments of Reflection” is 20.2020. The amorphous shapes resemble cattails in the afternoon light on the gallery wall. Grouped together in the middle of the piece, they start to take on a portrait of sorts. Pareidolia is this phenomenon that causes us to detect faces within other objects. In this regard, it could be a sort of self-portrait for Volker. The pieces are made of delicate color strokes within a muted color palate of greens and blues and grays; colors associated with the Pacific Northwest. They sit upon a pink and orange and sandy colored background. This could be a nod to her two homes. Childhood in the Utah desert and Great Basin and her adult life spent in the PNW. The two elements on in as much juxtaposition as they are in harmony.

Volker said before of this body of work in reflection of the Desert, “the Expanse, the Stillness, the Vistas…” and the three pieces that comprise Moments of Reflection echo these sentiments. Although each piece is small scale (9x12”), they are expansive yet quiet. They are still in one light, but vibrant and vibrating in another. This show will continue to stay on the walls for another couple of days so please get in touch if you want to come check it out in person. The photos cannot do this show justice.”

 

-Andrew Rice

@erosion_slc https://www.andrewriceart.com/

“2020.20” acrylic and collage 9x12” © 2020 Lucia Volker

Piece two in "Moments of Reflection" /  by Lucia Volker

The second piece in my current show @erosion_slc with another write up by Andrew Rice.

“The next piece from Lucia Volker’s show, ‘Moments of Reflection”, titled 2020.24 is a showcase of subtly. As your eye moves around the piece, certain areas illuminate while others fade into the background. Much like the natural landscape the piece references, the things you see change depending on the time of day, the lighting, conditions, the atmosphere, your vantage point, etc…

Volker reminisces about 2020.24 citing the ridges and shadows from the wind hitting the sand and the almost iridescent particles reflecting in the sand were what really caught her attention. Those visual moments that cause one to pause and reflect and contemplate, knowing that there will be similar moments, but that each one is particular, unique and fleeting.

Volker writes “I think of Utah and the desert as my home, and that landscape is very embedded in me. Although these were made in the PNW, I think my appreciate/inclination for landscape really does come from the dramatic landscapes of growing up in the West – the expanse, the stillness, the vistas – are really so unique.”

This piece, like the previous, and like the next piece in the show, is like a mirage. The viewer sees flashes of light and color and starts to form their own narrative, transcending the reality of the marks on the paper. To reiterate again, these pieces truly need to be experienced in person to see and appreciate the subtle nuances. Please DM to schedule a time to come down to the gallery and see the show.”

 -Andrew Rice

Andrew Rice website

“2020.24” acrylic and collage on paper 9”x12” © 2020 Lucia Volker

Holiday Sale /  by Lucia Volker

This year I’ve been painting the colors of the Pacific Northwest, wanting to bring the environment in. Green, grey and blue symbolize the woods, water, rain and fog, and make up the beautiful and moody landscape. Select works from this series are available in the Shop page of my website, including abstract paintings on panel and paper. Original screenprints and works from other series are also available. Sale pricing is live until Tuesday 12/1/2020, for those looking to collect for their own homes or buy gifts for others. I’m always happy to help you make selections, please let me know how I can assist you.

“2020.47” above a mantel 20x26” acrylic and collage on mounted panel 2020

“2020.47” above a mantel 20x26” acrylic and collage on mounted panel 2020