Marguerite MacIntosh • member since 2020
I began making art ten years ago after our five children were grown and I retired from architectural practice. Soon after this we moved to Summerland and much of my art is a consideration of the liminalities that I have been processing over this last decade. I am particularly interested in ideas that resonate between past and future, inner and outer worlds, physical and spiritual perceptions. I look to express experiences of the human condition that transcend place and time, recognizing our shared humanity: our joys, suffering, vulnerability, perseverance, and mortality.
Architectural design which envisions the interface of the built environment within the landscape informs my use of clear, hard-edged geometric elements, such as lines or dots, in combination with gestural mark making and loose painterly brushstrokes. The embedded geometries represent intangible concepts, metaphors for the transcendent made visible. The use of square grids recalls my hand-drawn method of space planning and design. The grid suggests infinity, continuing beyond the edges of the work. It also references woven textiles that layer vertical with horizontal to provide covering and shelter.
Most of my works are layered. Controlled and measured elements are interspersed and overlapped with those that are spontaneous and serendipitous. This process evidences a contemplative engagement with the place or object I am painting. Recurring embedded dots within the artwork are reminders to pause, to take moments to be still within the rush of daily life.
After moving to Summerland eight years ago, the Alternator Centre has been a great way for me to connect with the Okanagan community of contemporary artists, to experience and engage with contemporary Canadian artworks presented in the Main and Project Galleries, and to exhibit my own paintings in the Members’ Gallery. I appreciate the commitment to presenting exhibitions that speak to current culture and the connection the Alternator has fostered with faculty and students of UBCO. It is wonderful to have a non-profit gallery in the Okanagan with these aims able to offer such a wide range and frequently rotating roster of artists each year.
I have had the privilege of exhibiting my own work three times over the past six years in the Members’ Gallery. It has been so helpful in my own practice to curate these series for presentation. The staff have always been encouraging and helpful and supportive!
Membership in the Alternator has also given me opportunity to take part in the annual Postcard Project and Studio Sale which is always fun. I love how the Postcard Project offers me the opportunity to do a small series that often is different in medium and content from my ongoing current work.
