Outside In by Virginia Mak & Colin Smith

February 27 - April 16

Set in landscapes imbued with mystery and a sense of unfolding stories, the photographs of Virginia Mak and Colin Smith simultaneously conjure both interior and exterior lives. Mak’s poetic Hidden Nature series hovers between painting and photography, reflecting upon German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) to convey, as Mak notes, a “contemporary sense of the sublime.” Colin Smith’s large camera obscura images – created by using large interior spaces as the camera device – present iconic western scenes with arresting drama to juxtapose, says Smith, “an interior, haunting past with imminent exterior forces.”

Born in Hong Kong, Virginia Mak now lives and works in Toronto. Mak holds a BA in philosophy from the University of Calgary, and studied photography at the Ontario College of Art and Design. She has exhibited widely across Canada and in Hong Kong, and has received grants from the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections in North America. Mak is represented by Bau-Xi Photo in Toronto and Vancouver; and Newzones Gallery in Calgary. Colin Smith studied photography at the Alberta College of Art and Design and throughout his world travels. He has presented his work in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Alberta, Toronto and Vancouver. His work is held in corporate and public collections including Cenovus Energy, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Art Gallery of Alberta; he has received grants from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and conducted an artist residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts in 2014.