Eliza Fry : Family Album

Eliza Fry : Family Album
August 28 - October 23, 2009

Closing Reception:
Friday, October 23rd, 2009
8 pm - 12 am
The Eight Track @ The Exchange
2431 - 8th Ave
Regina, SK

Eliza Fry
Artist Statement:

The title of this show comes from the photographic images in the works. I used a collection of old family photos, spanning a couple of generations and many decades. At some point I realized that if I removed figures from their original background and placed them in a different or even, anonymous, setting, the viewer was forced to create their own story for what is going on. Of course, the title can offer clues so some of these are not truly anonymous and the people in the images may also have a good idea of when or where the original photo was taken. For the most part, though, I hope I am simply offering images to the public that may encourage them to “write” a story that goes with the art.I was amused to have a dealer tell me last year that someone had refused to buy a piece they really liked “because the title was so depressing.” Obviously, that viewer had created an entire history for the figures in the piece. It was so believable to her that it affected how she saw the artwork.

Please feel free to rewrite the stories for the characters here. You can even put yourself in, if you like!

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Artist Biography:

Born in Duncan, BC in 1957, I have lived all over western Canada and in Ontario. I have been residing primarily in the Kootenays since the mid-80's. In Kaslo, I have found my'heart home”, the place where I feel I belong. My great grandfather was English art critic and historian, Roger Fry, the man who introduced post-impressionism to the English and North American art world. His paintings hung in both my parents' and grandparents' homes and helped to define the visual arts for me. I have always been an artist, initially a painter and now primarily working in mixed media assemblage. Ironically, the onset of a chronic spinal condition cost me my original career and awarded me the freedom to concentrate on art full time, I now work professionally as an artist and as the curator of Kaslo's small public gallery, located in the Langham Cultural Centre.

My working career was spent as a child and youth counselor and family support worker and my art work is often concerned with social and cultural issues. I also like to look at the structures of modern society, those artificial constructs that define our lives.

Lately, as is probably true for many artists, environmental issues have also become a facet of my work. As well, sometimes I simply apply colour to paper or canvas in ways that please me and allow the viewer to define the images for his or her own self.