May 9, 2022Spring Mix: UBCO BFA Showcase

by Emily Stubbs, Marketing and Communications Coordinator

Spring has sprung! To celebrate, emerging artists from UBC Okanagan’s Bachelor of Fine Arts program are showing off what they’ve been working on through the winter with paintings, prints, and more. Located in our Alex Fong Galleria, the exhibition Spring Mix is a part of the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies’ annual Spring! Festival. Proudly sponsored by the Rotary Centre for the Arts, alongside TD, the Lake Country Art Gallery, the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan, the City of Kelowna, and Alumni UBC, the festival aims to blend together different types of artistic expression. Each event, from film screenings to art exhibitions, are all done by UBCO students, faculty and guest artists.

The title, Spring Mix, alludes to both the Spring! Festival and “the metaphor of a mixed bag of greens”, says the show's curator, Connor Charlesworth, the students’ visual arts instructor. Connor has taught drawing and painting at the University of Victoria, Thompson Rivers University, and now the University of British Columbia here in the Okanagan. Each work on display is meant to demonstrate the range of 2D disciplines taught in the program, from drawing to printmaking, and painting to photography. “It was very exciting to work with the students, across 2-dimensional disciplines, to bring together the exhibition” says Connor. “The students have been working incredibly hard over the past year, overcoming various challenges in and out of the studio. My role was less as curator and more as facilitator, as there is no real thematic tie.”

Fourth year BFA student Sofie Lovelady’s text based UV screen print “Girl Talk” provides viewers with a moment to reflect on the callous language used all too often against women. “’Girl Talk’ consists of a long list of complementary and insulting descriptions that are often directed towards women. This work expresses the familiar bombardment of labelling and intrusion on women and their bodies through the use of pointed language,” says Sofie. Sofie often works with collage, blending found material from pop culture to create her captivating screen prints. “Screen-printing is a really hands on and physical medium and the printing process allows for a lot of intuitive decisions to be made along the way - which I love! I also work at a really large scale for the studio so that has meant for some innovative printing techniques this year to achieve that large scale.”

“Girl Talk” and “Pursuit of Momentary Happiness” by Sofie Lovelady

While admiring these works in the Galleria, you may notice that each is very different, while still coinciding with one another. Says Connor Charlesworth, “I think with any group exhibition there are surprises that arise through the installation process. For example, the way Ari Pielecki's large scale abstract drawing communicates next to Sofie Lovelady's text-based screen prints. There is something transitive happening between the words and forms that extend beyond their respective picture planes. These moments are really exciting, and I hope both viewers, and participating artists are able to take some time to examine and enjoy that space.”

Sofie says, “I hope that people see the huge variety in art styles in the student works and how exciting that is. And to anyone who is maybe considering the BFA program at UBCO - I hope the show can display the possibilities of 2D work that can be produced in the studios.”

Come check out these stunning works from the BFA students on display in the RCA Galleria until May 25th! For more information on Spring! Festival, visit https://fccs.ok.ubc.ca/about/events-workshops/spring-festival/

 

 


Spring Mix: UBCO BFA Showcase