Aretha Laverne | Artist Talk

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“Aretha Laverne,” 2024

(courtesy of the Artist)

In recognition of Black History Month, the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie will be hosting Aretha Laverne, at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie for an Artist Talk. Aretha’s work will be in a TREX exhibition this coming September and she was a featured artist in the Gallery exhibition, Jazz Influences.

The tranquil effects of nature on a somewhat anxious mind are the inspiration for Aretha Laverne’s work. To Laverne art can be quite a therapeutic medium, whether indulged on a personal or professional level. In her past she has worked as a Program Coordinator and helped to bring this ideology to children’s centres through the facilitation of art programs she had designed. Aretha’s focus within these programs was on the process of creating rather than the end creation itself, the same methodology Laverne uses today in her creative process. As jobs change stressors vary, be it political, professional, or personal, she finds that over time her draw towards Mother Nature has remained.

Aretha Laverne finds that working in mixed media has allowed her to find balance for her Gemini-like nature to capture the levels of dreamlike flow experienced when surrounded by the beauty of the Canadian landscape or mindful meditation after processing current events. The foundation of all this begins with a sketch, an intuitive mark working in tandem to nurture and bring forth the feeling and impression made by an early morning hike or late evening stroll, until that work becomes art, and she is at peace with her creation.