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Pemberton collective showcase their art

16-plus Pemberton artists show off paintings, photography and sculpture

By Nicole Fitzgerald

What: Pemberton Arts Council Show

When: Friday, March 2, 7 p.m.

When: MY Millennium Place

Admission: Free

Pemberton artist Lisa Komuro’s artworks always take seed in a quote.

“When you realize how perfect everything is you’ll tilt your head back and laugh at the sky,” was the inspiration behind Komuro’s latest acrylic collage series exhibited as part of the collective Pemberton Arts Council Arts Show at MY Millennium Place for the month of March. The public is invited to meet the artists at an opening reception Friday, March 2 between 7 and 9 p.m.

“I like to use a lot of collage; different layers of things applied to paper,” Komuro said. “There is a lot of Japanese influence in my work. My (art) always starts with a quote. I just take from random things that inspire me.”

Plenty of heads will fall back beaming at the sky with more than 16 Pemberton artists exhibiting everything from paintings and drawings to photography, stained glass and sculpture.

Visit sumiredesign.com, rafalstudio.com and galleryyoyo.ca to be blown away by the diverse showing that awaits the Friday event.

Diversity is what binds the show together — a direct reflection on the colourful characters and culture residing in a small town more famously known for its potatoes than its artists, a reality Karen Love, director of the still-green Pemberton Arts Council, aims to change.

“It’s fun seeing the collective of people we have in this community,” Love said. “We’ve got people from places like Poland and England, and people with masters in fine arts. If we can capture the incredible diversity Pemberton has to offer, who knows where (the arts scene here) will go.”

Artists to look out for include Grace Gordon-Collins. The Emily Carr photography graduate holds a Masters of Architecture from MIT. For more than 25 years she has won numerous awards for her talents in architecture, interior design and photography.

Rafal Warzybok hails from Poland, bringing a wealth of storytelling photojournalism to Pemberton. The ASP School of Fine Arts Masters graduate now runs a digital imaging studio in Pemberton Valley.

Sculptor Martin Dahinden is creating a work specifically for the MY Place show. His more often than not “wacky” creations always get observers thinking and debating.

The arts council show roster also includes names familiar to art showings around Whistler, but rest assured they are Pembertonians to the core. Photographer Toshi Kawano as well as painters Vanessa Stark, Lynn Pocklington and Wim Tewinkel will contribute their nationally and internationally renowned works to the show.

Admission is free.