UNDERCURRENTS : oil on canvas paintings
vernissage: Friday April 18 at 7 pm

Is landscape painting a relevant genre in the techno-frenzied twenty first century? Is it still desirable to find solace in nature and to portray this experience in painting? Shawn McNevin believes the answer to both these questions is decidedly yes and continues to paint the landscape because for her, it holds a kind of truth and an ability to inspire a transcendent experience. In fact, because we are constantly bombarded with stimuli and because the pace of life often does not allow for reflection and assimilation of the frenzy around us, Shawn McNevin’s paintings of the rural west coast of Newfoundland remind us that there are other rhythms, slower subtle natural rhythms that we can draw upon for solace and reflection.

In Undercurrents, the first exhibition of the season at Galerie McKenzie Marcotte in Wakefield, Shawn once again presents us with lyrical, meditative paintings of the Gros Morne area of Newfoundland that distill quiet moments in the presence of nature. She is emotionally engaged with the landscape then reflects it back to the viewer with images filled with a sense of awe at the beauty around her. Her perceptual and emotional openness allow her to intimately convey her experiences of solitude and meditative awareness. Shawn’s ability to slow down and experience the stillness and vastness of the landscape is reinforced by her painting style. There are no large gestural brush strokes, no nonchalant application of the paint. Instead the fineness of the brush strokes, the careful attention to detail augment the perception of stillness and heightened awareness.

The paintings in Undercurrents, whether they are distant images of land forms lost in the vastness of the sky and sea, intimate observations of a particular tree or the sky at twilight, all reveal an individual artist’s moods and perceptions. There is indeed the undercurrent of an encounter with solitude, of transcendence and of awe that Shawn has experienced which in turn elicits a similar response in the viewer. In a time of environmental concern and uncertainty, Shawn McNevin reminds us that we are still part of nature, that it is still important to value the slower rhythms and transcendent qualities of the natural world as an antidote to the frenzy of contemporary culture.