AGOG presents Kathryn Cooke “Lunar Landings”

We are very pleased to welcome Kathryn to AGOG to open her solo exhibit at 5pm on Friday March 15.

Kathryn writes:

The stories told in this series, Lunar Landings, were first inspired by the first full moon of Aug. 2023, the Sturgeon Moon. A second full moon, the Blue Supermoon, arose Aug. 30, 2023. Those two moons held my attention and the narratives that I depict in this series unfolded from my subsequent lunar research and imagination. The moon is a variable constant. Its predictability makes it a time piece of sorts, used to chart cycles. Attending to the moon harkens back to days when we were more connected to the earth and the celestial bodies; when we took the time to look up and when passings of the seasons and the cycles of earth’s creatures were noted in the naming of the moons. In this series I was interested in exploring relationships between the moon and the natural world- both real and imagined. My more-than-human neighbours in the Columbia River Wetlands became subjects of several narratives. I’ve also followed the story of the dwindling numbers of Woodland Mountain Caribou in British Columbia and Alberta. In both provinces, nurseries have been built in hopes of developing successful breeding programs. Wild Caribou are now enclosed to produce offspring. I imagine a wild Caribou mother courageously plowing through deep snow, heavy with her calf which is soon to be born. She carries the moon to light her way. In the artwork of Lunar Landings, I play with visual perception and take artistic freedoms to present magical realism while asking how the moon influences the lives of creatures and natural events. Let us look up and marvel at the ancient universe. Let us take delight in our capacity to imagine as not only is this a joyful experience, but it can also help to illuminate new ways of being. Thank you for your time and care as you view the stories I present in Lunar Landings.

Bio:

Kathryn currently resides in the hamlet of Parson, British Columbia, having retired from her first career as a pediatrician in the town of Canmore, Alberta. The thirty-year career as a pediatrician has informed many aspects of Kathryn’s art practice.

Kathryn has a BFA from the now Alberta University of the Arts, (Major Drawing) graduating as the Governor General Award-winning recipient in 2014. Kathryn went on to complete an Interdisciplinary MFA from the University of Hartford Connecticut, 2022.

Kathryn subsequently retired from her pediatric practice choosing to develop her art practice as well as the artist residency and retreat, Slough Studios, located at her home in Parson.

Kathryn’s commercial art consists of illustrative, complex drawings which are created in a painterly fashion with soft pastel, ink, and acrylic pouring medium. She creates form through what she describes as topographical line work in addition to complex mark making. Her compositions often employ weaving patterns which reflects the complexity of life.

Kathryn is interested in expressing her ideas regarding important issues of our times such as climate change, extinction studies, and how humans and more-than-humans navigate and influence common ecosystems. While her work is scientifically researched, it is often expressed as magical realism, hoping to ignite the animated imagination that is present in all of us. Her commercial work can be seen at the Art Gallery of Golden, Carré des Artistes, Montreal, through Blue Eyes Studio on line, and reproductions in textile and prints, at farmers markets in Canmore and Invermere