Chilliwack artist breathes life into gallery with colourful exhibition

A local artist has brought colourful life to the white walls of one art gallery in Chilliwack.

Patricia Peters’ solo show, Art That Breathes, is currently on display at the O’Connor Group Art Gallery in the Chilliwack Cultural Centre until June 25.

“I’m always looking for a way to breathe life into my work with how the trees are moving in the wind, water cascade over the rocks, the ocean swells, how it lifts you up and down. It makes us feel alive,” Peters said. “This allows me total freedom and evokes strong reactions from the viewer.”

“Wind has been a really strong element for me the last four or five years,” she said.

It’s clearly visible in many of her pieces. The viewer can see branches of trees being blown across the canvas and boats on the water’s waves – they see that things around us are still moving, still alive.

The majority of the work in Art That Breathes is landscape paintings, but there is a collection of abstract work as well where movement is visible in the patterns.

“It’s like puzzles for the mind on a huge dimension,” she said about abstract painting.

Peters has used different materials like cold wax and hot wax in some of her abstracts. Both are challenging to work with – cold wax is like a paste and there are only seconds to work with hot wax once it’s touched the canvas.

This solo show is important to her as she’s had 11 shows that have been cancelled as a result of the pandemic.

In addition to viewing Art That Breathes, people will be able to see Peters in action every Thursday and Friday. She will be working on a large eight-foot-by-four-foot piece right inside the gallery during her show.

“It has always been important to paint the places and things that I love, as it fosters hope for the future, memories of past adventures, and connection with each other. These works are a spiritual response to the land and how things have endured the challenges of living and breathing.”

Peters said viewing the landscape is like a two-way street. She is inspired by it and feels alive in nature, and then she paints what she sees in hope that the view will feel that same joy that she feels.

She wants people to have feelings of “hope and connection” when they view her work, and she wants people to get outside and “feel the wholeness that we get from nature.”

Patricia Peters’ solo show, Art That Breathes, is on display now until June 25 at the Art Gallery in the Chilliwack Cultural Centre. Hours are Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is free. Only five people are allowed in the gallery at a time and face masks are mandatory.