Shari-Anne Gibson smiles and delights. Photograph by Brandon Gaukel.
Shari-Anne Gibson is a newly wed. Buzzing around her new apartment she talks about love, making art, and the simple life. The fall is the season that marks new beginnings: a new husband and her first solo show in Vancouver. Now The Trees Have Grown Up is Gibson’s collection of new paintings and drawings that represent innocence, our relationship with nature and an insight into the artist’s imagination. The work is characteristic of Gibson’s aesthetic, which is thematically connected by a sense of interrupted innocence.
The 28-year-old painter said she gets “late night energy.” Since the start of the year, she has spent the evenings working on this project. Her work came to an abrupt halt, however when she was in a car accident, which resulted in months in a neck brace. Taking time off her “Joe job,” she spent the months creating and planning. She was forced to reflect and spend time with her art. The experience made her more involved with her art and more confident about her work. When I joked about having a Frida Kahlo moment, she corrected me: “Less intense.”
Over tea, I asked Gibson about her upcoming show and we watched the rain fall.
Sad Mag: Tell me about the title of the show. And the significance to the work?
Shari-Anne Gibson: Now The Trees Have Grown Up is intended to make the viewers think about trees as having sensibilities, accumulating experience, losing innocence. I want the trees in the pieces to be seen in a new way, and allow the fragmented landscapes to become personal, perhaps reflecting the viewer in some way.
SM: Where were you trained and how long have you been painting?
SG: I studied both at the University of the Fraser Valley and at the Ontario College of Art and Design where I received my BFA. I’ve always loved to draw and paint, so a long time.
SM: What do you think is missing from Vancouver’s art scene today? Or do you feel it has a mighty strength?
SG: After living in Toronto, Vancouver feels very photo-conceptual in contrast, which I absolutely appreciate, however I sense that real painting is a little out of style here. But I know the tides are changing as more painters are getting attention and the MFA program at Emily Carr is gaining a national reputation for its painting program.
Shari-Anne in the studio. Photograph by Brandon Gaukel.
SM: Some of your favourite visual artists?
SG: Johan Creten, Janet Cardiff, Peter Doig, Laura Owens, Katja Strunz, Nan Goldin, Egon Schiele, Fra Angelico, Makiko Kudo.
SM: Where did you grab your inspiration for this collection of work?
SG: I love the natural environment and also appreciate work that is psychological and philosophical. I wanted to create spaces which interrupt our experience of nature, which play with our sense of perception. I wanted to depict the natural world in a way that reveals something about our human experience.
SM: What inspires you in your daily life?
SG: Colors. Photography. Music. When people are free and comfortable with themselves. One evening I went for a walk and a man was singing opera at the top of his voice while I was strolling through his neighborhood. I love that.
SM: After the show, plans? New work? Vacation?
SG: Oh! Right! There is life after the show! Ha ha. I am planning to shift my practice a little and focus on drawing for the rest of the year. It is something I love and haven’t spent enough time with recently. My friend and I hope to start a daily blog together sharing our pieces. I also plan to go on holiday in February. . .maybe to Iceland!
Shari-Anne Gibson’s online portfolio