Ted Fullerton | Born In - The Year of the Snake
Ted Fullerton | Born In - The Year of the Snake
May 8 - June 2, 2025
Bau-Xi Gallery | Dufferin
1384 Dufferin Street, Toronto
Opening reception: Saturday, May 10th, 2 - 5 pm | Artist in attendance
In Ted Fullerton's newest exhibition, Born In - The Year of the Snake, the artist presents a body of work that explores symbolic, dualistic imagery to communicate themes of transformation, identity, and the human experience. Drawing on myth and personal narrative, Fullerton’s figurative compositions act as visual metaphors - truths and allegories that resonate beyond their immediate form. The recurring motif of the serpent, tied both to ancient symbolism and the artist’s own birth year, anchors this exhibition in a deep, intuitive exploration of meaning and renewal.
Artist statement:
“For the true poet, metaphor is not a rhetorical trope, but a representative image which really hovers in front of them in place of an idea.” -Friedrich Nietzsche: The Birth of Tragedy
“As an artist, I see my work as being primarily symbolic and figurative.
I explore images that are dualistic in nature, or characters where form and content equate in a condition of understanding. Reconciling the “Other” is of importance, where the merging of life and the condition of human existence has a presence of resolve – an acceptance of acquired and intuitive knowledge.
Works selected for Born In – The Year of the Snake were chosen as they support my interest in a pictorial language that illustrates and reinforces the “myth” image – a collective memory and allegory. They are symbolic references of truths, or generalizations about the human existence and “being”.
In reference to the title of this exhibition, the serpent has frequently appeared within my work over the years. My fascination has been two-fold; firstly, as one which is associated with transformation, wisdom, healing and the renewal of life – and secondly, from a personal point of interest as I was born in the Year of the Snake.
In poetry words take on meaning beyond their initial intent. Images within my work take on meaning beyond their initial intent.” - Ted Fullerton
Ted Fullerton works in contemporary painting, printmaking and sculpture, and has achieved numerous awards including the Juror's Award in the CIM Centennial Art Competition and the Boston Printmaker's Juried Exhibition award. He has exhibited across Canada as well as in England, Australia, Spain and Yugoslavia. Fullerton's works are in private, corporate and public collections including the Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby, BC; Oregon State University, Oregon, USA; Ontario College of Art & Design, Toronto, ON; University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON; and Markborough Properties, Halifax, NS. Ted Fullerton graduated from the Ontario College of Art in 1976.