A Chilliwack artist’s property was aglow with lighted sculptures Saturday night as she held a public art exhibition outside her own home.
Not knowing when the next time her work would be installed inside a gallery, Sylvie Roussel-Janssens decided to create her own gallery. She opened her home and yard to friends and the public for a one-night show on June 6.
“I feel like sometimes you really have to take things in your own hands. Cultural institutions are very prudent. They may not be the ones who will think outside the (white) box first,” Roussel-Janssens said. “If and when they do, they will have been nudged by the daring ones: the artists.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has been busy by working on new projects which were on display that night.
Large house-shaped structures of red, blue and yellow stood at the foot of her driveway as smaller pieces lit up the deck and the walls of the garage.
For a long time she has dreamt of travelling with her art, but due to the fact that her work is in three-dimensional sculpture form, it needs to be easily transportable.
READ MORE: Origami-inspired art lights up Chilliwack art gallery
Showing, moving, storing and selling sculpture is difficult, she admits.
Roussel-Janssens is constantly figuring out new designs so she can make her sculptures foldable, collapsable or stackable.
“Nothing makes me sadder than looking at boxes containing artworks that do not get a chance to live. For me, it is not enough to make a piece. I want it to have a life after the studio, to go in the world.”
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