Carolyn Mallory
Marginal
The Featured Artist's work can be seen online and in the gallery from December 1-24.
Opening reception: Friday, December 5, 5-7pm
Artist talk: Wednesday, December 17 at 12 noon.
Contact the gallery for inquiries.
About the Artist
Carolyn Mallory lived, worked, and raised her family in Iqaluit, Nunavut for 12 years from 1999-2011. It was love at first sight and her heart has never been the same; the Arctic has touched her deeply.
While in Iqaluit, she wrote two books, Common Plants of Nunavut, co-authored with Susan Aiken, and Common Insects of Nunavut. She has also written Painted Skies, a picture book for children.
Carolyn returns to the Arctic in her capacity as a resource staff person onboard the Ocean Endeavour with Adventure Canada most years. Along with her naturalist duties, she gives watercolour painting workshops.
Since autumn 2019, Carolyn has been part of Tides Contemporary Art Gallery in Kentville, NS. The gallery changes the artwork on the walls monthly and this has pushed her to expand her watercolour practice into oils, which she is enjoying immensely.
In 2023, Carolyn had a solo show, Colours of the Arctic, at ArtCan. In 2024, she had a two-week artist residency at Hammer and Sky on Brier Island. Her love of seaweed was heightened while in this amazing place. Her work has recently been accepted at Teichert Gallery in Halifax.
In 2024, Carolyn became a fellow of the Canadian Geographical Society. She loves to talk about Canada and her travels in the North whenever the opportunity arises.
Carolyn’s detailed work often offers a perspective on a small part of Nature, a flower, a lichen, a bird. But she also showcases larger expanses of Nature because she truly feels it is in both the largesse and the minutiae that we are all connected.
Artist Statement
On the margins of the water, when the sunlight hits the shore, the luminescence of the seaweed is unparalleled. Your eyes take in the vivid colours and the plays of light and shadow. The sun is a necessary partner in the photosynthesis that the algae conduct to produce their food. Plants (including algae) are the sole producers on the planet. We (animals) are consumers. Through the process of feeding themselves, they also produce the oxygen that we need to breathe. Beautiful and productive. Part of the cycle of all our lives.
There’s something sensual about the way the seaweed branches intertwine suggesting love, connection, procreation even. They catch the light in a mesmerizing play of shadow and light. They dance in the water swaying to the music of the sea, the same music that pulses in our veins reminding us that we are all connected. Even those on the margins.
Like all living things, seaweed needs to stay hydrated to survive. If it still has a holdfast attached to the substrate (mostly rocks) then it is alive, waiting for the water to return. To refresh its flesh—a rebirth of sorts. Whether the tide rolls in gently or the surf pounds, seaweeds gratefully await the water of life.
Seaweed is a balm for what ails me: orange, purple, and green prevail. I am swaying, moving, and breathing in the salt air. I am alive. As are we all. Some estimates state that seaweed provides 70% more oxygen than land plants and absorbs carbon very effectively. More so than trees. Why are we not paying greater attention to them? We need them.
This is my marginal attempt to pay attention.
Painting is always, in all ways learning.