[Bcma-l] Nanaimo Art Gallery Media Release - Rod Corraini review of "Be You-Be Creative"

[bcma-l@museumsassn.bc.ca]

Exhibition Review:

 From May 7^th to May 12^th the Nanaimo Art Gallery’s Downtown venue 
will host the second annual “Be You – Be Creative” teen arts competition 
put on by the Vancouver Island Arts Festival Society. All entries 
exhibited in this competition are superbly rendered and they seem to 
represent the cream of young Vancouver Island Secondary School artists. 
What really struck me as well was the great variety of mediums used by 
all the participants.

The first prize went to Paul Macintyr for his “guitar player”. He has 
paid great attention to detail and also has included abstract elements 
of pattern. He also takes doodling to a new level with this piece.

Kira Desorcy has second place with her “Girl and Kitten”. She was able 
to achieve an amazing likeness of the softness of the subject matter 
with her skillful use of pastel.

Earin Kim took third place with his dry point “Duck” which was an 
example of that medium at its finest for an artist so young. It is rare 
to find dry point taught in schools because presses are expensive.

Pamela Williams received an honourable mention for her illustrations; 
advanced rendering of composition as well as the seeming ‘joi de vivre’ 
of her whimsical works.

Jiya Kim’s free form style compositions and brave use of colour in a 
gouache “flower garden” piece also earned an honourable mention.

A third honourable mention went to Riley Nicholson for his clay 
full-body sculptural piece. He also has on display a sculpted robot 
head; a photograph of a Model A Ford; and an ingenious drawing a steam 
powered android. All observations of technology old and future.

Also notable was Shay Lockridge’s highly detailed portrait of an Asian 
woman. Siobhan Powloski’s uniquely foreshortened portrait of a 
‘chimpanzee’ was also achieved with great skill. Allison McCabe’s 
textured print put a new spin on a form of Japanese styled animation. 
Casey Smith’s prints of ‘fish’ were refreshingly abstract. Megan 
Heenan’s rendition of a sculpted south East Asian head bore a good 
indication of what the head was originally made of. Jennifer Smythe’s 
two works were powerfully existential and she had clearly indicated to 
the viewer that she had known her place in this world. Julien Milett’s 
flowing composition of “sea turtles” had demonstrated both pictorial 
skill and knowledge of history. Catering Lee’s intelligent use of colour 
has a good sense of rhythm to match the musical instrument subject 
matter in her work.

All of these works prove that it is worthwhile to invest in our youth 
arts and to not cut the programs. A development of these skills and 
imagination has great value in our society. It will be interesting to 
see what they will be doing in ten years time. Stop by the Nanaimo Art 
Gallery Downtown, 150 Commercial Street, for a look or call 754-1750 for 
more information.

Rod Corraini