Through the Lattice

Through the Lattice opening on Saturday, January 21 at the Gallery. Assistant Curator Rhys Edwards will join exhibiting artists Alex Morrison, Parvin Peivandi, and Robert Young for a panel conversation at the opening reception on January 21 at 6:30pm. Admission is free.

Through the Lattice reflects upon the ongoing relevance of the lived environment, whether as owned, alienated, or desired. Each artist foregrounds the role of place—and its aesthetics of style, ornament, design, pattern, and architecture—in their recent works. Though diverse in their methods, the artists share a concern with the deeper meanings of space as well as its material construction.

“Where and how we inhabit space has been the subject of intense discussion as of late,” says exhibition curator Rhys Edwards. “Lockdown protocols, safe living spaces, and affordable housing are very current topics. I wanted to organize an exhibition of artworks that demonstrates how many artists have been responding to the idea of dwelling in recent times.”

For some artists, such as the sculptor David Umemoto or the painter Robert Young, buildings are deeply symbolic places. Their practices bring to mind memories of homes both imagined and real and reflect upon the relationship between the individual self and the world at large. For others, such as mixed-media artists Edra Soto, Parvin Peivandi, and Tiffany Shaw, the portrayal of space is an opportunity to imagine how the aesthetics of distinct cultures can inform new interpretations of history or new ways of inhabiting space. Multimedia artists Alex Morrison and Lyla Rye, meanwhile, attend to the construction of space itself, exposing the desires inherent within the way it is both constructed and perceived.

In its varied interpretations of dwelling, Through the Lattice speaks to the central importance of the built world—as a realm of imaginative dreaming or as the staging ground for relations between society, culture, and the environment.

The winter opening reception will also celebrate Keerat Kaur: Panjabi Garden, a rich display of poetry, digital illustration, painting, and marble inlay paying homage to the Panjabi language and Gurmukhi script, and Cindy Mochizuki: Autumn Strawberry, a video installation of a Japanese Canadian dance and art performance. The event also marks the conclusion of Surrey Art Teachers Association: Connect, a showcase of new works from local instructors.