Artist’s Statement

We are oriented towards actions and events, where fulfilment comes with completion, or is found in the “now” of the doing. We make positive use even of our restorative non-activities. But what about those much less noticed in-between times, the not-yet that holds the potential for not-ever? The project started with the series of seven ladies In Waiting, who historically of course were “waiting on” rather than “waiting for.” Framed in solitude, in a static landscape, each lady has mastered the art of timelessness. The careful viewer will puzzle out the hidden treasures linking each lady to the others, as the prop in one stage set is tucked away below the scenes in each of the others, in an orderly row of little boxes. Games are one thing we do while waiting, I Spy out the car window.

The project afforded me with ample opportunities to experience the nuances of waiting: waiting for the ideas to gel, waiting to have time to paint, waiting for the layers of paint to dry. Waiting also through a two-year gap of poor health where the whole thing was put on hold, its future abandoned. Waiting to get better, not knowing if I would.

Then when the opportunity came to pick up the brush again, the rest of the works arrived all in a rush, as if they had been germinating unseen in the darkness. Just Wait Here enfolds each modern-day waiting lady in a colourful world of her own construction (and I discovered an affinity for painting wallpaper). Time Signature speaks to the complex rhythms in women’s lives: the ebbs and flows, the yes/no, the rich wait of gestation and the heartbreak of loss. The boxes reappear, this time in an a spray of abstract dichotomies.

It’s About Time addresses waiting from the side of nothingness: what does a painting look like, when it is just a background where nothing happens? Again, and then again?

By contrast, the dynamic Anticipate is the active aspect of “not-yet-ness,” butterflies in the belly and energy bouncing off the walls.

Finally, In Perpetuum references the great wait of eternity. But there are corners in the universe where potential lingers, for new growth, new projects, tiny trade-offs: a row of open boxes house small treasures.

(Yes! All the figures in these paintings are from poses by my amazing model for the project, Chelsey. The work owes her a great debt of gratitude for her enthusiasm, creativity, and thoughtful understanding of the concepts we then worked towards building together.)

And just for fun, since we all have a variety of lived experiences of waiting, there’s an audience participation element to the show, the scroll entitled While I Was Waiting I… Feel free to add your own completion to the sentence. I’ve provided a few to get us going.

BIOGRAPHY:

Although born further afield, artist Oiseau has lived locally in Argenta for the last forty-five years. Her early explorations were in textile arts, but when picture-making became a fascinating priority she made painting her full-time study. Initially primarily a watercolourist (albeit an unconventional one), she switched to oils fifteen years ago and hasn’t looked back. Her current major focus is the portrait/figure. A strong understanding of colour, light and form is perhaps the most durable aspect of her work, across different mediums and genres. Her other persona as a poet feeds the sensibility that shows up in her visual art, and a wry sense of humour does tend to be lurking somewhere near at hand.

Oiseau received her initial training at the Victoria College of Art in the early 2000s and has avidly continued to learn from teachers near and far. As a signature member of the Federation of Canadian Artists she sends work regularly to the Federation Gallery in Vancouver. Closer to home, a special joy is sharing her love of creativity with her pair of young grandchildren.