Connection

Brandy Mars 

'Lily Pads'

Alli van Gruen

'Reunited And It Feels So Good'

Painters Brandy Mars & Alli van Gruen center the human figure in their expressive & joyful works that search for connection with themselves, community & memory.

Brandy Mars is a Vancouver based oil painter whose work celebrates LGBTQIA+ lives & loves. Mars’s paintings often feature feminine figures showing affection for each other. Whether it’s a comforting embrace or erotic clinch, the characters in her narratives reach & grasp to connect. Having worked in fashion & film, Mars applies an almost dream like sense of storytelling with hints of surreal environments & feathery brushstrokes that blur the edges of the subjects, all crafted in vibrant colour. Hoping that others will feel seen in her works, Mars aims to build bridges through celebrating  queer joy & universally human experience of reaching for connection.

Alli van Gruen is a multimedia painter based in Whistler whose work is rooted in intimacy & nostalgia. Van Gruen employs figures & objects pulled from memory & old family photos to suggest an event or moment that left an impression. Scenes are varied yet common – laughing over a meal, a walk on the beach, a festive family outing – yet all center around connecting with others. Using a variety of materials including acrylics, inks, pastels & watercolour, van Gruen’s expressive brushwork infuses each story with the energy of the moment & rush to capture a memory. Van Gruen hopes to spark viewers’ own memories of joy & togetherness, creating an intimate connection of shared nostalgia.

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