Faux Past

An unapologetic forgery of things that never were, from places I’ve never been

By Claudia Lorenz

April 1 to 23, 2006

Exhibition opens April 1, 2006 at 7 p.m. and continues through till April 23, 2006.

Gallery hours: Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. during the run of this exhibition.

Claudia Lorenz, a Victoria-based artist, art teacher and author, uses found objects, rediscovered materials, and traditional painterly methods to create “merged-media constructions” where one is never quite sure which part is manufactured, and which part grew or disintegrated. Her artwork reveals her fascination with the ephemeral presence of human artifacts in the natural world. The pieces suggest erosion of terrain, wood and stone, and light filtered through water, foliage, and atmosphere. This new exhibition, Faux Past: an unapologetic forgery of things that never were, from places I’ve never been, playfully conjures up historical artifacts from worlds, times and places that never existed.

Claudia’s book, Seeing like an Artist, was written as a supplement to her successful individual and group classes in which she helps students to approach drawing and painting by first embracing a sensual approach to seeing. When she’s not in her studio or teaching students, Claudia packs her sketch pads and camera into the saddle bags of her Kawasaki 650 motorcycle to go seek inspiration from wilderness areas, rural museums, and ruined settlements.