Area residents are invited to a “garden party of the imagination” on display at Two Rivers Gallery until Oct. 3.
The gallery is hosting The Covidian Garden Party, a multi-media exhibit by Prince George artist Cat Sivertsen and 24 collaborating artists from Canada, England, France, Germany and Singapore.
While recovering from life-saving surgery during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sivertsen envisioned a party thrown in her honour. So she invited 24 “guests” to each collaborate a page to a book, envisioning the garden party that couldn’t be.
“Over the pandemic we have all experienced the kind of isolation that Sivertsen’s Covidian Garden Party was made to counteract,” Two Rivers Gallery curator and artistic director George Harris said in a press release. “The imagined space that she and her collaborators defined is a moving testament to what it is to be human during a difficult time.”
The book is on display at the gallery, along with a video about each of the submissions. In addition, the show includes other works by Sivertsen.
Airing It is a photo exhibit documenting an installation of linens that honoured Sivertsen’s grandmother, who immigrated to Canada from Northern Ireland.
The Invisibility Paradox is a study based on an installation of cut-glass beads, in which the artist ponders the question of aging.
And Firescapes records the aftermath of a wildfire using mixed-media drawing on birch panels.
A travelling version of the exhibit will be on display at the Mackenzie Community Arts Centre from Aug. 6 to Aug. 29, the Valemount and Area Museum from Sept. 3 to Sept. 26 and the Valley Museum and Archives in McBride from Oct. 1 to Oct. 31.
