Mel Gausden | Future Museums

Mel Gausden | Future Museums
July 11-31, 2024
Bau-Xi Gallery | Dufferin, Main Floor Gallery 
1384 Dufferin Street, Toronto
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 11th, 5-8 PM | ARTIST IN ATTENDANCE 

Bau-Xi Gallery | Dufferin is thrilled to announce the captivating new solo exhibition Future Museums by Ontario-based artist, Mel Gausden. With this new collection, the artist commemorates the treasured natural environments of her life - now forever changed by climate disasters and human destruction. Through the artist's vibrant oil paintings of the Canadian landscape at dawn and dusk, Gausden poses the question: Are we at the point of no return to save these precious environments? Or is it a slow beginning with the potential to create real change that mitigates the climate crisis?

Artist Statement:

“This series of paintings is a record of and ode to the forests and lakes that have played a major role in my life. Unfortunately, most of these places have already undergone significant changes, and some have disappeared altogether due to disasters such as wildfires, emerald ash borer, oak wilt, and urban sprawl. These paintings celebrate the fact that the forests were here; they were lyrical and wild and deserved much more respect than we gave them.

Compositionally, the paintings are set in the middle of the forest, surrounded by trees. This is an acknowledgment of the direct relationship we have with the ecosystem. There’s no longer a facade that we are apart from the consequences of climate change. No one gets to stand back on a vista and look on from afar. For all of these pieces, I chose to paint using early morning light or evening light. This is a metaphor for the state of the environment. It asks; are we at the end? Has corporate greed and inertia condemned the climate? Or is it a slow beginning where we create real change that mitigates the climate crisis? I hope it’s the latter, but if not, I’m grateful for being able to connect and learn from the forests while they were still here.” 

Mel Gausden obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 2009. In 2016, she received a grant from the Georgian Bay Land Trust. Her artwork has been published in Where Vancouver Magazine and Create! Magazine. She is represented by Bau-Xi Gallery in Toronto and Vancouver.

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