Ellen Bang

'Strange Interference'

Shakun Jhangiani

'Beauty in Simplicity'

Yeonmi Kim

'Raindrop Red'

Abstract artists Ellen Bang, Shakun Jhangiani & Yeonmi Kim search for harmony within & with the world through dynamic experiments in shape, texture, colour & media including paint & reclaimed materials.

Ellen Bang is a Vancouver based Danish/Canadian artist working primarily in abstracts as a means of expression. For her, abstract painting offers an opportunity to explore & convey relationships between lines, forms & colours in an honest & intuitive way. Bang's work in acrylic paint reflects a continued interest in visual rhythms. She is fascinated by structures & systems found in geological formations & architecture, as well as the rhythm & sound of spoken language & music. While her paintings are not about these phenomena, they influence her visual language, helping to establish a kind of visual poetry. Playing with perception, expectation & movement within the painting, Bang have chosen to express herself in her own abstract language.

Shakun Jhangiani, a North Vancouver artist originally from India, is an intuitive abstract artist. Her distinctive use of mixed media is a result of a lifelong passion for learning. Jhangiani enjoys experimenting with different media & techniques, discovering & developing new processes & means of expression. Creating intuitively, she gives over to her impulses & instincts, allowing the work to come into being with a natural flow. Jhangiani’s current work combines acrylic paint & charcoal with natural materials like crushed seashells, quartz & sand alongside repurposed cardboard, burlap & twine. Drawn to the healing spirit of nature, Jhangiani’s work often features elements suggesting shorelines, moon filled skies & open fields that she hopes will inspire moments of contemplation.

Yeonmi Kim is a multidisciplinary artist from Powell River, born & raised in South Korea. Her practice includes fashion, interior design, fine art & craft. Kim’s current work considers, & is inspired by sustainable practices, aiming to raise awareness & motivate change about the amount we waste in daily life. She uses discarded materials to create art that addresses environmental changes & consumerism, while celebrating the needs & joy of nature. Naturally weathered driftwood, repurposed plywood from construction sites, & fragments of wooden doors serve as the primary materials for collage like sculptures & carvings. Discovering the latent potential & hidden narratives within discarded materials Kim takes us on a serene & contemplative journey.

Artists Talk Livestream

Watch an engaging conversation with the artists as they share insights into their inspirations & processes.

Pierre Leichner

'Reaching Out'

Bita Mohabbati

'Renewal of Hope'

Marcie Rohr

'Freedom'

The familiar expression "living the dream" can be difficult to apply to our lives in a world fractured by conflict, climate emergencies, inequality & displacement. The artists in this exhibition invites us to reimagine what it means to live dreams - not as individual comfort or success, but as a shared commitment to change. What if dreaming is not about escape, but about tending to possibilities that include healing, justice, rest & collaboration? 

Pierre Leichner is a North Vancouver based multidisciplinary artist whose work combines social issues, science & advocacy. Born in Romania to refugee Hungarian parents who eventually fled to France to raise their family in safety, Leichner emigrated to Canada as a teen. A life shaped by the experiences & stories of his family's escapes from violent conflicts & authoritarianism has influenced his series of sculptures & cyanotype prints, It is in our hands and …our feet. Cement hands & feet are entwined with barbed wire & shoelaces - symbols of oppressions & movement. Different hand gestures indicate defiance, anger, hope, compassion & resilience, while strong feet walk the roads towards a better future. Each sculpture has an accompanying cyanotype print, offering graphic, indigo hued calls to resist.

Bita Mohabbati is a North Vancouver painter who strives to reflect the human condition in inventive & captivating approaches. Her current work delves into thoughts on human interaction, portraying the tension between connection & alienation in the digital age. Often subsumed by the overwhelming influences of media & information, people are less active participants in their own lives, but rather passive subjects within a world defined by external forces. Mohabbati's complex & layered backgrounds contrast her solitary subjects - a lone potted tree, an empty vessel, a stark portrait - partially consumed by their surroundings. Are they being swallowed by the world around them or emerging with a renewed sense of strength & hope? It is for us to look inside & decide.

Marcie Rohr is a New Westminster painter & textile artist concerned with exploring emotional landscapes & symbols. Her series What to Make of This, features layered, abstract paintings & tapestries created in an era of collective grief over war, climate change & the opioid epidemic. The overwhelming reality of current events can trigger feelings of despair & grief. In contrast, Rohr's works are an expression of cohesion & form amidst chaos & trauma. Creating tapestries from found cloth, paint & thread, she repurposes discarded materials at the end of their lifecycle into something new. These disparate, transformed elements become a whole, reminiscent of blankets we take comfort in, suggest that beyond the tragedies we can find opportunities for growth & healing.

The works in this exhibition do not offer a singular vision but suggest many possible paths. They inspire dreaming—not in spite of the world as it is, but because of it. Living Dreams reminds us that even amid uncertainty, we can still choose to imagine, listen & create ways of being that are tender, courageous & shared. 

Artists Talk Livestream

Wed. Aug. 20, 7 pm

Join us for an engaging conversation with the artists as they share insights into their inspirations & processes, & answer questions from viewers.

Meet the Artists

Thu. Sep. 4, 6 - 6 pm

Join in celebrating these talented artists! Experience their incredible artwork & ask discover their inspirations & processes.

Experience the incredible work of several local Indigenous artists, coming together in community, to share their passions, perspectives & stories. Artists from a variety of First Nations & backgrounds will be featured working across media including carving, painting, fashion & jewelry. These diverse artists tell their stories with their distinct visions & impeccable skills, carrying on the traditions & teaching of their respective cultures & mentors while paving the way forward in exciting new experimentations & endeavours.

We are pleased & grateful to work with Kolten Khasalus Grant as Exhibition Advisor, to bring these artists together & share a vision of community & kinship. Grant is an artist of  Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw, Kwaguł, Tlingit, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh & St’atl’imc ancestry. He is a wood carver of traditional & contemporary Masks, Frontlets, Panels, Paddles, Bent-boxes, Rattles, Regalia, Drums, Table Tops, Totem Poles, & House Posts; as well as painted design work, silver/gold jewelry & graphic design. He was born & raised in the village of Xwemelch’stn 
(Capilano Reserve) within the homelands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation in what is also known asWest Vancouver.