Laurel Terlesky is more than an artist – she’s a visual architect representing our current relationship to nature, ourselves, modern behaviors, and that in which we are environmentally dependent on for source. There’s a beautiful struggle shown in her work – The striking of a fluidity in the inter-dependence of the modern world and our most natural state. By plugging in we can become unplugged, and she displays there’s a fine balance between the two. We are in need of the contemporary tools of electronics and media to communicate our ideas, but in the process, as a society, this disconnection can be the very demise of us. Terlesky’ s images tell the tale that unplugging from nature can leave us in a desperate state, but by plugging into it with partnership strikes the cord of true connection. ~Kate Power, founder, Fleet Jewelry. (Fleetjewelry.com)
The Photos
01 I like to start my day by living near the boundary. A snowfall the night before makes for an especially wonderful morning.
02 My two beauties share some loving with me throughout the day… morning cuddles are the best! (Keecha (Kitten in Ukrainian, a lynx point Siamese.) and Tigger-tronics (earned her nickname because she likes to hang out near speakers when electronic music is on. Tried recording her purr once and turned that into some electronic sounds).
03 Creativity gets underway daily at my studio on 2nd Ave in downtown Squamish.
04 Things are constantly changing in the studio – keeps me inspired!
05 Homebase Studios is next door to my space – it’s a shared space with resident artists Stan Matwychuk, Kevin Su, Amber Butler and Sanaz Busink. We hold events and workshops here. Drop by anytime!
06 Getting new works together exploring themes around water. This subject will be my focus for the next two years as I complete my MFA degree where I will be combining my new media & painting practices for some new pieces.
07 I live in such a beautiful place – where the water meets the mountains. In the afternoons I take a short break for a walk or run around Nexen beach.
08 The best days are when I finish off with a class at The Yoga Studio. Some of my favourite yoga teachers make their magic here. Thanks Sarah, Lydia and Chris.
The Questions
What neighbourhood do you live in?
Squamish (more precisely Garibaldi Highlands)
What do you do and where?
Artist: Painting, Drawing and New Media. I also freelance mainly in motion graphics for tv & film, and also website & print design. I also teach new media at BCIT in Vancouver. Most days I can be found at my studio #204 37760 2nd Ave Squamish. Stop by any time for a visit.
What are you working on?
Getting a few things ready for some upcoming exhibitions. Starting to experiment on some new works combining projection and painted surfaces. Also gearing up to start my MFA this summer which will take me to Berlin and New York a few times over the next couple of years.
Where can we find your work?
Until the end of March at Raw Canvas in Yaletown (1046 Hamilton St., Vancouver), mid-April until mid-June at the Lynn Valley Main Library (North Vancouver) and hopefully State of the Art, (although that isn’t confirmed yet – fingers crossed!). Lastly, always at my studio and on my website: laurelterlesky.ca
Jessica Turner from Shaw TV joined me in my studio for a preview of work I’ll be showing at the Shaw TV office in Whistler for Art Walk. The Event runs all throught the summer – July to August, with opening nights on June 30 and July 14. I’ll be there live painting!
Sometimes art is purely representational. Deeper levels of meaning in art come when the piece evokes a specific emotion or makes a statement.
Laurel Terlesky loves the process of applying paint to canvas and playing with colour, but her art isn’t just visual appeal — it actively promotes a cause and brings attention to important issues.
Terlesky’s pop-culture portrait series is a sort of narrative campaign for maintaining socio-ecological balance, encompassing energy expenditure, fashion, natural resources and sustainability. Her large, bold paintings ask the question, “Where do we stand in relation to our ‘electrical body politic’? Energy is neither created nor destroyed; it is harnessed, transformed and is increasingly bordered, sold, manipulated, expressed and valued in relation to cultural dependency.”
It is easy to see how fashion, media and the environment have inspired Terlesky, who has a degree in fine arts and also works in motion graphics, web and print design. Her paintings have a graphic playfulness, influenced by contemporary mural, graffiti and alternative comic art. Terlesky affirms, “My [art]work is constantly evolving. Ten years ago I was much focused on breaking areas of a form apart into sections. Now I seem to be still working with that, but in a much more loose style, so what was hard edge is now soft, stitching forms together.”
Terlesky’s exhibit “We Love This Stuff So Much,” features acrylic, aerosol and oil paintings, will be on display April 5 to May 9 at the Library Foyer Gallery.
In this touring exhibition, her creative stimulation is a narrative on energy and power in the common global trend of “going green.” Not timid about using bright, solid colour to emphasize depth, Terlesky uses solid flat colour placement, juxtaposed variations and shaded areas with surreal, mostly feminine, subjects intertwined with images of computer feeds, plugs, cables and cords.
Terlesky’s passions include being outdoors, travelling and the power of connecting with people.
Terlesky, incidentally, plans to run a workshop at her studio in conjunction with the exhibit. The event, “Recycled Electric — Build Your Own Recycled Electric Accessory,” takes place April 17 from 10 a.m. to noon at Homebase Studio, No. 203 – 37760 Second Ave. The cost is $20. Space is limited and pre-registration is required; email her or phone (604) 898-2525.
Saturday February 26, 7:30pm; no fee, no host bar (Campbell River Art Gallery)
Fire spinners in Spirit Square at 6:30pm are the perfect lead in to performance pieces by poet Annette Yourk, base player Graham Edwards, and the Methuselah Dance Troupe in the Gallery inspired by Laurel Terlesky’s exhibition, We Love This Stuff So Much. This is an evening you won’t forget.
With an exhibition of her paintings entitled “We love this stuff so much…” in the Main Gallery of the Campbell River Art Gallery focusing on electricity consumption and a closing day full of activities coinciding with the Rain & Fire Storytelling Festival on Feb. 26, that energy will become evident to gallery visitors and guests. Terlesky, originally born in Calgary and now residing in Squamish B.C., travelled throughout the US, Canada and even as far as Barcelona developing her painting style and tapping into the energy of other art scenes. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Victoria in 1999 and was awarded a stipend to spend a month at an international artist residency in Spain more recently. Drawing on themes such as electricity and power, spirituality, the human body, pop culture and women’s rights, Terlesky’s paintings are colourful and engaging. Working in oil and acrylic paints and then adding a contemporary twist by incorporating spray paint, most of Terlesky’s paintings are of individual female subjects. With their intricate hairstyles and poses ranging in influences from the 1930’s to present day, the paintings draw on the rich history of fine art portraiture while clearly placing her subjects in the present and sometimes, the future. Fashion trends are interwoven with symbols of energy such as power cords, ear buds, usb cords and wind turbines. Through a youthful pop-culture lens, these paintings push the viewer to confront social norms, concepts of beauty, the extent of our cultural dependency on electricity.
Taking the theme of electricity a bit further, Terlesky will be leading a workshop at the Gallery on Saturday, Feb. 26 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. creating wild and fun accessories out of recycled electrical parts. The fee is $17.50 plus HST and the registration deadline is Feb. 23. This workshop kicks off a larger, day-long schedule of activities at the Gallery as part of the Rain & Fire Storytelling Festival and mark the closing day of exhibition.
In addition to Terlesky’s workshop, the Gallery will offer a Super Saturday art program, and a special closing that evening at 7:30 p.m.
