Juror’s Comments

By

Christina Sealey, BFA, MFA

See the show now.

May 25, 2011 

Thank you very much to the Markham Group of Artists for inviting me to jury the spring show this year.  It was an honour to have this first introduction to the group and I thoroughly enjoyed having the opportunity to spend time studying this engaging body of work.  

I was very impressed by the excellent quality of the work overall so selecting only forty pieces from those entered was not an easy task.  I endeavoured to select a range of works, representing the diverse styles and media presented by the group.  For me, the ideal pieces should work as a whole where each component is necessary and influences the next (colour, markmaking, media, subject, placement of the forms etc).  I looked for works that showed a sensitivity to and confidence of handling or experimentation with the media chosen and demonstrated a strong sense of composition.  I am drawn to work that asks questions and offers multiple interpretations of a particular subject matter or technique and this aspect also influenced my selection of one work over another. 

I felt that each one of the works that I selected for awards today excelled in these areas making them stand out from the others.  In the case of the "Best in Show" winner "Are We Awake Yet?" I was interested by the artist's choice of collaged (recycled) paper for this portrait.  The paper was used in both a technically impressive and creative way and could also be considered to be related to subject on a conceptual level. Aesthetically, the portrait worked well both representationally and as an abstract image.  As well as describing the subject's face, the variations in the sizes, directions and tones of the paper also created an interesting visual pattern of movement. 

The "Juror's choice", "Life Through a Lens" stood out as being something other than a traditional portrait.  I appreciated the simplicity of the image that allowed it to work on a number of different levels. The image and idea are open ended enough to allow the viewer to participate, adding their own interpretations and questions.  

Congratulations to all of those whose work will be hung in this exhibition! To those of you whose work was not selected I must urge you to continue to make work that you find personally inspiring and re-apply to future exhibitions.  It is very difficult to select a body of work based on space limitations alone.  As mentioned by previous jurors, a juror while trying to be as objective as possible, may be drawn to one work or another from their own personal preferences or experience.  Regretfully, it is often the case that works of merit are not included.  

I hope that you will find that this exhibition represents the range of inspiring talent and creative spirit that I observed in the Markham Group of Artists today.