MEL GAUSDEN | A FAIRYTALE FOR THE END OF THE WORLD

Mel Gausden | A Fairytale for the End of the World
3045 Granville Street, Vancouver
Upper Gallery

March 5-19, 2022

Toronto-based painter Mel Gausden explores the deep and rich atmosphere of nightscapes in her new series. Always with hints of wistfulness and nostalgia, she captures the differences in light and colour that the falling of dusk reveals, as well as the feeling of uneasiness that can often accompany the darkness. A rare display of Gausden's watercolour and mixed media working sketches accompanies the final finished counterparts.

Gausden's work combines symbols and markers of Canadiana with painterly gesture, mark-making, and bold highlights. Neon touches add a contemporary freshness and highlight the inherent distortion of personal perspective.

Her process is significantly determined by the time it takes for her source material to become tinged with nostalgia. Once memories are bound to her source images, the narrative emerges and is rendered in paint. Gausden’s diluting of the oil paint and allowing it to drip with controlled precision augments the contemporary feel and alludes to the amorphous nature of memories.