What: Sacred Space: From the Inside Out
When: Jan. 5, 6-9 p.m.
Where: MY Millennium Place Art Gallery
Most artists thrive on tucking themselves away from the world to create their Van Goghs, Renoirs and Monets.
However, part-time Whistler resident Gavin Livingstone tackles his abstract impressionist works fast, furious and in public.
Not only does he exhibit his work, but the creation process itself involves painting a new piece in front of an audience accompanied by DJ spun music, video clips and photographic images.
"I give people an opportunity to see how a creative process evolves," Livingston said. "There is an interesting synergy when you mix the genres up: you’ve got musicians playing, a painting being created and an audience witnessing it… The spontaneity of the creative moment happening right now adds another element to the moment of creation that comes through in the paintings too."
Livingstone exhibits his works for the month of January with an opening reception and performance piece for his show Sacred Space: From the Inside Out Thursday, Jan. 5 from 6 to 9 p.m. at MY Millennium Place Art Gallery.
The former agriculturist and founder of the Shambhala Healing Centre in Glastonbury, England combines both his passion for landscape and cultivating spiritual growth in his works.
"It recognizes the importance of Whistler in its landscape: it is a very sacred space," Livingston said. "(From the Inside Out) is about looking within and looking out from the inside and recognizing the beauty around us. What I find is that my paintings have an energetic impact that provides spiritual support. For me, paintings bring me into the current moment and make me realize what we have. There is an inner calm that doesn’t go away. I find as people look at my work, it brings that awareness to that place within themselves."
Six years ago, a life change found Livingstone with canvas and paint perched on a Tantalus viewpoint at sunrise under blue sky and minus 10 temperatures.
His paint froze, but not before he completed his first work, which he brought to then Northern Lights Gallery, now Gallery Row, and sold. Four months later, he hosted a full show and sold out, leading to his works being showcased at other local events, including the Whistler Art and Music Festival, Whistler Farmer’s Market and ARTrageous. He also painted live at other B.C. summer festivals. Most recently he hosted a performance piece as part of Tourism Whistler’s contribution to Tourism Canada’s promotion of B.C. in Seattle. He has painted live with the likes of Spearhead, Ganga Giri and Wasabi Collective.
He said his works aim to create a holographic perspective of an abstract image, leaving the viewer to come to their own conclusions about what they are seeing.
"For me, It is all about paint and colour," he said. "About how a viewer layers up colour in their mind. The red might jump forward and blues retreat to the background. It creates a holographic perspective where the viewer has to use their imagination to fill in the blanks and decide what the inference of the image is."
For more information, visit www.sacredspaceart.com.
