Contemporary artist Shakun Jhangiani enjoys using elements of textural contrast in her mixed-media paintings. The rough and the smooth, the soft and the hard, the light and the dark - each element enhancing the presence of the other, Jhangiani's refreshing abstract landscape series is teeming with textural illusion.
Exploring techniques using sand inspired Jhangiani to try crushed gravel and shells for a stronger, more tactile texture. Her first experimental study just happened to look like a landscape and she simply took off from there.
Jhangiani, whose paintings grace the wall of the Library Foyer Gallery from now until June 6, admits to being an instinctive modern artist who thinks outside the box. Largely self taught, she confesses that she has always been and will always be an artist.
"The need to create is a very powerful feeling; it is not something one can ignore. I find inspiration in everyday sights and sounds. Music inspires me to create. Reading urges me to experiment. I am particularly drawn to compositions and colours I see in nature, but I also find beauty in unexpected places and ordinary little things."
Jhangiani initially started working with traditional methods, creating realistic images, but over time her work gradually evolved toward the figurative and now the abstract impressionist style.
As for her future endeavours, Jhangiani says, "I will forever and always be a creative artist no matter where life takes me. The more I create with mixed media, the more I get inspired to go further and further with the medium. There is so much magic in being able to allow whatever wants to be, to manifest."
Jhangiani looks forward to the day that she is able to support herself as a full-time artist. For more of her work visit myartclub.com/shakun.jhangiani. To contact her, email [email protected] or phone (604) 725-9179.
Kay Austen, a potter with 45 years experience, presents in the display cases ceramic pieces created serendipitously in a saggar-fired brick kiln where bits of wood, salt or other materials mark the surface of the clay.
Natural elements and nature come together. Surfaces are shiny or opaque and stony. Austen is also inspired by the classic forms of ancient Asian ceramics, as well as the work of modern North American potters who alter forms at the wheel to provide vivacity and spirit.
She says that her pottery has evolved.
"In all my years of playing with clay, I have explored so many ideas with the material that I've lost count. Very often I find myself going back and looking again with new (and much more experienced) eyes at ideas I played with as a student. Consequently I can obtain vastly different results."
Austen walks, swims and toys with yoga for artistic stimulation. She also does muscle strengthening.
"Clay is heavy, it makes physical demands on the body and it needs technical ability to prepare it and make it do its job," she said. "It demands a hands-on, direct approach."
"My work reflects my concerns of making usability jive with beauty. It is intended to enrich the lives of those using it."
Her experimental work continues to enhance her functional pieces. She is also a passionate reader and says that sharing and teaching are a source of great satisfaction. This summer, Austen is doing a saggar firing with the Whistler pottery group and a one-day workshop on sketching on clay "en plein air."
For more about Austen's work, visit www.kayausten.com
