MARGARET WITSCHL: "Game Pieces," Through February 2, 2013 Art Gallery of St. Albert, AB

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"Runner Up"

Margaret Witschl, "Runner Up," 2012, oil on canvas, 52 x 52 inches.

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"Long Shot"

Margaret Witschl, "Long Shot," 2012, oil on canvas, 52 x 64 inches.

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"Runner Up"

Margaret Witschl, "Runner Up," 2012, oil on canvas, 52 x 52 inches.

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"High Noon"

Margaret Witschl, "High Noon," 2012, oil on canvas, 42 x 54 inches.

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MARGARET WITSCHL: Game Pieces,

Through February 2, 2013

Art Gallery of St. Albert, AB

By Agnieszka Matejko

Margaret Witschl doesn’t recall being an anxious person. Her busy and distinguished career as a teacher, corporate curator, government art consultant and practicing artist attests to her ability to juggle life’s stresses. But her sanguine attitude changed one fateful day in 1990. She was on holiday, skiing happily when another skier slammed into her sister. Witschl’s sister slowly recovered, but their lives were never the same. From that point, art became a conduit to grapple with her fears and address broader social issues about anxiety disorders. “I choose images that convey unease and anxiety,” explains Witschl, gazing at her disquieting paintings. Each canvas divides into nine loosely formed sections reminiscent of board games. On this “playing field,” Witschl places fear-inducing objects such as the institutional bed frame that floats in the bottom section of Runner Up. It could be her sister’s empty hospital bed or one from a seniors’ home. Above, a black form creeps across the canvas like spilled ink or a multi-legged tarantula. (Ripped tires the artist collects on roadsides inspire this shape.) Witschl allows objects to interact with each other, building on subconscious associations in the manner of the Surrealists. Filtered through Witschl’s dream-like vistas, the deeply personal becomes universal.