Jaclyn Locking In Another Land

In the Atrium

In Another Land

Artist Statement

My fasciation with homes began as a small child. Early memories of the exact details of a house; how shagged green carpet resembled grass, the feel of wood paneling along my fingertips. I loved to draw my own elaborate dream houses and play with dollhouses. Living and walking around downtown Kelowna for 16 years, I have thousands of photos of the unique character homes and old heritage buildings. I created my very first 12 piece structural portrait series To Downtown Kelowna, With Love in 2018, and most of the subjects from my reference photos from 2011-2018 have vanished due to re-development. 

Real estate listings read like obituaries while For Sale signs feel like tombstones. Local businesses are being pushed out by high leases that only corporate chains can afford. Homes and old growth trees are randomly extracted from the street, like a bad tooth or in some parts of town, entire blocks, gutted and cleared to make way for luxury. I yearn for what was; the quirky lawns, the neighbourhood cats, back alley murals, old growth trees and lilac bushes. 

I have a compulsive urgency to take these photos, to get there before the excavator strikes. To document what was; as land assemblies clear cut old neighbourhoods to make way for modern castles and micro suites. Change is the only constant and we are in a dire housing crisis after all. Unfortunately, with increases to costs on all fronts; homeownership, and for some even the rental market, has become out of reach. I’m continually dancing to ‘Do I stay or do I go?’ as I browse MLS listings in other provinces, fantasizing about affordable home ownership. 

These structure portraits are vessels for nostalgia and grief, and the work I put into painting each piece feels cathartic and meditative. 

Artist Biography

Jaclyn is a self-taught visual artist and yoga instructor residing in Kelowna, BC. In 2011, after a long hiatus and creative block, Jaclyn picked up a box of oil pastels and a sketchbook under the encouragement of a dear friend. Through art nights with friends and solo sessions at home, Jaclyn experimented with different mediums and techniques creating pieces of art for friends and family. In 2016, Jaclyn founded Jackalope Art Co. and submitted pieces to local group exhibitions and fairs. Upon acceptance of the 2018 Spring Artscape exhibition through Artsco, Jaclyn created a series of twelve mixed media paintings on wood panels using photos she captured of her local neighbourhood for reference. To Downtown Kelowna, With Love is a 12 piece love letter to her hometown, honouring the structures of the past as the city charged through rapid development. Since 2018, she has painted over thirty local Kelowna buildings, a twelve panel series of buildings from the San Francisco Bay area and more. 

Jaclyn is fascinated by architecture, lush quirky gardens, and back alley finds. Colour palettes are primarily inspired by spring and summer around Okanagan Lake. She fuses her obsession with nostalgia and music into her work, pairing essays and meticulously curated playlists with each commission and series. As development continues, changing the face of her home town, the intent of her structural paintings are to capture the history of Kelowna and honour the nostalgia of simpler times. 

In 2020, she turned her structural focus inside and created a seven piece series entitled Driftwood Lounge, painting interior scenes of a beautifully decorated home on Poplar Point, slated for demolition. 

Alternatively, Jaclyn’s artistic range is not just limited to structural paintings. She enjoys painting animals, abstracts, murals and her illustrative Sheila series.