Nicole Katsuras | Metamorphosis
Nicole Katsuras | Metamorphosis
June 3-15, 2023
3045 Granville Street, Vancouver
Opening Reception Saturday, June 3, 2-4pm
For over a decade, Canadian artist Nicole Katsuras has been synthesizing and abstracting both her outer and inner worlds. The development of her unique impastoed abstractions, with her extrusion and “wet-on-wet” techniques, reflects her interests in topography and Impressionism. Her organic, lyrical process reveals the emotive effects of colour, shape, and textures. Inspired by the gestural painters of Abstract Expressionism and the works of Ukiyo-e, Katsuras uses free-flowing paint to explore abstraction and transcendence. Katsuras lives and works in Toronto.
Artist's Statement:
In this new body of work, I explore the symbolic aspects of the multi-layered term Metamorphosis. Biologically, metamorphosis is defined as a complete change of physical form, like the four stages of a butterfly. However, symbolically, the meaning is rooted in the supernatural and inner worlds of one’s being or soul. This meaning uses the butterfly as a metaphor: throughout history and across cultures, butterflies are seen as harbingers of change, regeneration and transformation, and are reminders of the fleetingness of life. In Greek, the word psyche also means butterfly. These symbolic, inner-world meanings of metamorphosis are what inform this series. Visually, my new paintings focus on floating forms - islands that hint at human existence and also at something intangible, fleeting and surreal. The shifts are subtle - the movement of strokes and colours; deep aubergine backgrounds first read as inky blacks; gradients shift directions and scale.
– Nicole Katsuras 2023