Samantha Walrod: "Majestic Wanderer"

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"Deer Crown White"

Samantha Walrod, "Deer Crown White," 2014, Mixed Media on Panel, 60" x 48".

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 20, 1-4 pm

Newzones is pleased to announce Majestic Wanderer, a solo exhibition by Albertan artist, Samantha Walrod.

Walrod’s new body of work is influenced by local wildlife and flora found in the Canadian wilderness. Imaginary spaces are collaged with familiar iconography. The Alberta Rose can be seen emerging out of abstract brushwork and disappearing back into paint splatters. Bears or elk materialize out of drips, stains and strokes, onto a clearing.

Walrod situates herself as a motorist where the road is the meeting place where she and other visitors can encounter majestic wildlife. Walrod says of her experience: ‘When viewing wildlife from a vehicle, I feel a sense of awe and gratitude at the chance to witness the fleeting passage of a bear, coyote or elk coming into view and then disappearing back into the trees.’

Tactility is very important to the artist’s practice. Images are incorporated with collage and digital technologies, while maintaining the exploration of paint. Layers of paint act as a symbol of the mind’s ability to retain detailed information, while at the same time, leaving certain elements unclear. In her own words, Walrod “reacts to the paintings with each layer or erasure, adjusting contrasting activity and quiet, opacity and transparency, chaos and balance”.

Walrod completed her Masters of Fine Art at the University of Alberta and received her BFA from the Alberta College of Art and Design. Her work can be found in museum, corporate and public collections across Canada.