Traveling art exhibition visits Valemount and McBride
By Rachel Fraser
The title of the traveling art exhibition currently on display at the Valemount Museum is a Northern Michif translation of the Latin phrase Solvitur ambulando, “it is solved by walking.”
Li Apween di mawshay is a collection of oil paintings by Quesnel-based Metis artist Natasha Lepine on display in Valemount until September 16th, and later at the Valley Museum and Archives in McBride from October 7th to November 4th.
Depictions of Central BC landscapes, many painted “in plein air” – outside, in the moment – are the focus of Lepine’s work. Though she describes herself in interviews and on her social media as a “former anime kid,” Lepine says she combined her passion for exploring Forest Service Roads, hiking and cruising with plein air painting to create the work she does now.
The exhibit’s theme relates to her process of managing her mental health and life’s troubles, “push(ing) herself out of depression and isolation” to leave the house, according to the exhibit’s literature, and be in the world, practicing deep awareness and recording her moment of deep communion with nature.
The exhibition is curated by the Two Rivers Gallery in Prince George. Their Regional Outreach Program runs yearly with the help of their curatorial summer students and further showcases the work of a regional artist that was hosted by their Gallery in the last 12 months, Assistant Curator Brianna Rose, told the Goat in an email.
According to Rose, the program’s reach is currently limited to Mackenzie, McBride, Valemount, and recently Quesnel, and further restricted by the destinations’ space for temporary exhibits, which is why the exhibits are typically paintings, rather than sculpture or ceramics.
