"UnEarthed" by Chrissy Sie Merritt

Opening Reception: June 23, 7-10pm

Exhibition Hours: June 24 to July 5, 6pm

Tuesday to Friday* 12-6pm (we will be open on July 1, Canada Day between 12-6pm)

Saturday, 12-5pm*

*Saturday, June 25, 2-5pm Chrissy will be creating art in the gallery.

My creative practice has always been my greatest teacher, the insightful guide to the many layers that make up my personal story. What was once a practice of layering paint to create realistic details of nature’s innate beauty, transformed into a revealing, inner journey of full body expression. A moment of deep surrender revealed profound images from a tender and sacred place within, which have comforted, enlightened and guided me on this life journey.

Moving from paint and using a brush to charcoal, pastel and my bare hands on large scale paper, has been liberating and has given me the freedom to be truly in the moment. The dance between breath and movement is a pivotal tool for creating marks that are honest and raw. With my whole body and both hands working in concert, releasing any preconceived idea of imagery, space is offered to allow the images to rise up from within me without force from my conscious mind. Experienced merely as lines at first, the intimacy of tracing these marks, like a map with my bare hands, gently reveals new layers of myself.

This body of work was birthed from necessity; a need to go deep, to explore and gently allow the layers of internal patterns to peel away, and to explore the dichotomy of light and dark within. This work honours these opposing sides with honesty and attention, and has unearthed these images as my voice in this healing journey.

Artist Bio: Chrissy Sie-Merritt

An explorer of the sacredness of being, Chrissy Sie-Merritt expresses a passion for peeling away the layers of self. Her work is one of a personal healing journey. She intuitively creates marks using her whole body that express a moment in time. This physical conversation with the ebb and flow of life is her impetus to go deeper, allowing images to rise up from within. This transformation journey with the self is artfully expressed in her free flowing charcoal and pastel creations.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Chrissy has always been inspired by the cycles of nature and the connection of these rhythms within her life’s journey. She now resides in the rural community of East Braintree, Manitoba.