Another feature exhibit, ‘Future Memoria,’ is set to close Aug. 25
An interactive digital collage by Cheryl Pagurek is featured at Surrey Art Gallery this summer and fall.
It’s called Winter Garden, which mirrors the presence and movement of its viewer to create “an ever-changing collage composed of patterns of lively indoor plants against a desolate winter landscape.”
Admission is free to see and experience the collage, displayed in the central part of Surrey Arts Centre until Dec. 8.
The collage is activated by passersby at the facility at Bear Creek Park, where viewers become an active part of the artwork, their presence reflected by the collage composition generated unique to their moments.
The concept began from a series of still-life photographs depicting a small oasis of indoor plants that Pagurek, an Ottawa-based artist, tended to during the COVID-19 lockdown of 2021. Winter Garden 9, featured as part of the exhibition, is one of the photographs from the series.
“Through its playful interactive element, Winter Garden invites us to take a moment to pause on our path and reflect on the abundant beauty and cyclical rhythms of nature,” explained Zoe Yang, curatorial assistant at Surrey Art Gallery.
Through the use of Under the Hood, a “machine learning library,” the software identifies the viewer in front of the camera and creates an unseen skeleton of their limbs to follow movements. This information is then used in determining where collage patterns are placed.
This summer at SAG, Winter Garden is featured alongside Future Memoria (which closes Aug. 25) and a showcase of recent works by members of Surrey Artswest Society (to Oct. 13).
With Future Memoria, a slightly dark vibe fills the gallery in an exhibit during the brightest days of the year. “Paradise and disaster collide” in an exhibition of art from both the gallery’s permanent collection and some loaned works, by close to three dozen artists.
The intriguing art show is about hope, fear and the ways in which the desire for a better life haunts our collective human endeavours, according to an introduction posted at the entrance of the exhibit, which opened July 6.
The exhibit traces “the spectrum of futurity in all its tempting humours and horrors,” according to a media advisory. Visitors encounter “lush fantasies of aesthetic splendour and abundance, as in the animations of Alex McLeod and Laura Lamb, as well as the spectres of nuclear apocalypse depicted by textile artist Barbara Todd or printmaker Doug Biden.” Featured elsewhere are idealistic self-help programs, artificial landscapes and the dominance of technological solutions.
“Although many of the artworks address dark themes, my hope is that visitors do not leave in a state of despair,” said Rhys Edwards, SAG’s assistant curator.