Diana Smith
The current show at ArtPod ends on Sunday, September 14. It is called
Fleeting: Exalting the Ephemeral and concerns the notion of time and experience
as transient and effervescent.
Three of the works in the show, those that were given the Juror’s Choice
Award, illustrate above all the seriousness that artists bring to their endeavor
and the breadth of the infinite number of ways that the theme can
be expressed. Daniel Laskarin, the juror, is an artist’s artist. He gets artists.
He gets art. He chose wisely, in my opinion.
One award was given to One Moment by MaryLou Wakefield. It was a
largish acrylic and ink painting reflecting some of her favourite proclivities:
abstraction with a suggestion of landscape, calligraphic text, and a
disciplined use of sumptuous colour. The painting is an expression of one
experience of her intentional daily practice of ‘joy spotting’. Like all handmade
art, it must be experienced in the flesh to get the full impact; in this
case ‘joy’.
Consider Eduardo Fausti’s Impermanence, an exquisitely made and
presented photogravure. A photogravure is highly crafted print of a photograph,
using methods developed in the late 1800s and 1900s to produce
very fine art. Although the form contradicts the title, the content, of a
weathered and crumbling seated Buddha statue, depicts the theme beautifully.
It is a metaphor for the title both in material and spiritual ways. As
Eduardo says in his artist statement: “The splendour of past magnificence
now long gone serves as a metaphor for the passage of time and a telling
reminder of the impermanence of things in general.”
Most local of the three artists is Dyan Marie, of Spirit Bay, East Sooke,
with the most non-provincial of art practices and concepts. Dyan will
always challenge and stretch what we consider ‘art’ in a sincere and
gorgeous way. Take just one part of her work in the show which in itself
is conceptually multilayered – on an ordinary sheet of paper she has
printed six short descriptions of a ‘minor act or material residue’. One
reads, for example, A BLANK SHEET OF PAPER IS PLACED ON THE
GALLERY FLOOR. OVER THE COURSE OF THE EXHIBITION MARKS
ACCUMULATE ON ITS SURFACE THROUGH INCIDENTAL CONTACT.
The act never happens, is not intended to happen. This is enough for us to
imagine the outcome. By not being materialized the imaginary outcomes
are limitless. As she says, “the works distill experience into language while
intentionally refusing visual permanence. In doing so, they highlight the
fragile threshold between presence and absence and explore how meaning
might persist as materiality recedes.”
Some may dismiss this as artspeak and the work may be met with indifference
or dismissal. What I say is that if we can do our part to meet the
seriousness and intent of the work by giving it our full-bodied attention we
may be rewarded.
If you are an art maker and ardent Muse reader you may also know that
there are just a few days left (September 5 is the deadline) to submit work
to our next show, Talisman: The Art of Power and Meaning. Talisman runs
from September 19 to November 2.
This, again, is another theme rich with potential for wide and diverse
interpretation. Included in the description of the call-out for work on our
website (metchosinartpod.ca) is an example of talisman as ‘an object, an image,
or even an idea, imbued with meaning by the one who carries it.’
Based just on this, what would be a talisman to you? For me it might be
the porcelain mug, decorated in flowers, that my mother used day after day
for her ritual morning tea. The next step for some of us would be to translate
that into a visual or sensory expression. Go for it. We at ArtPod will
appreciate your effort.
Photo: Award winner Marylou Wakefield with juror Daniel Laskarin. Posted: Sep 23, 2025 Originally Published: Sep 1, 2025