In the gallery December:

Deltra Powney

My visual language is multidisciplinary, with a focus on painting and printmaking. Concepts of personal place making, and a collective consciousness of what we have come to understand about our belonging in the world are developed through reading texts about human/environmental relationships, and immersive field research experiences. 

Enchantment has become the filter through which I observe the complexities of nature. During field research, intimate study of micro-environments within riparian zones takes place as I sketch and photograph along shorelines in an effort of recording harmonious rhythms found where water meets land. Cropped composition, energized mark-making, captivating light, and an earthy colour pallet reflect the rich energy, and diverse life that exist in watershed environments all over Alberta. It is my hope to stimulate intrigue, and encourage connection between water, land and the viewer. Various making processes facilitate the visual communication and what one medium offers, often informs another, creating a chain reaction of paintings, installation works, print based work, and sculpture.

In her book The Enchanted Life, Sharon Blackie discusses the idea of place making as “being intrinsic to our being” and for the “need to make sense of, and find meaning in, our relationship to the places we inhabit, as it is a fundamental and universal part of the human journey in this world.” It is through the processes of observation and making where I find a sense of belonging.