ARTIST STATEMENT

 

  The natural world has always been my wellspring of inspiration. Memories of exploring the forests of my youth can still flood my senses with the sounds and smells of those wild places on the edge of suburbia. Like others raised in this environment, however, traveling down the intersecting avenues and returning to the comfort of my home every night, the wild remained very much “other worldly." It was a longing to find a deeper connection with the natural world that later took me, through job experiences and personal trips, to many remote areas of B.C. and Manitoba. These years after art school were ones of soul searching, of gathering experience on the path to finding my voice as an artist.

 

 "In the Rainforest" , (detail), acrylic on canvas, 82" x 104", 1993

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pursuit of a deeper connection with nature is one that I know many people share. Perhaps our increasingly urban existence leaves more of us desiring this. Indeed to better understand our place within the natural order is arguably the most important issue of our age. This longing to touch the soul of nature and to examine our relationship with it has been the central theme in my work as an artist.

 

    My paintings hint at these issues through a kind of heightened realism. Images appearing firmly grounded in physical reality at the same time somehow go beyond the surface appearance tugging the viewer into the realm of memory and dream.

 

 

 

"Crossing", acrylic on panel, 16"x 22", 1999

 

 

 

 

 One of the most frequently reoccuring themes in my landscape painting has been water. Always a difficult subject, water's illusive qualities constantly challenge my abilities as an artist. Perhaps it is the impossibility of the task which continually brings me back. In the painting on the right I have attempted to show both the depth of the crystal clear water and its everchanging  surface by layering dozens of layers of transparent color.  

 

 

 

 

 

"Liquid Gold", acrylic on canvas, 30" x 40", 2005
 

  

 

 

 

 

In my latest body of work titled the "Sunnyside Series," I have moved away from water as a main focus to experiment with the magical effects of light and the alluring tranquility of a lakeside forest. The initial inspiration for this series came from my favourite shoreline of Cultus Lake which is a short walk from my home. There is something magical about the lighting along this side of the lake known as "Sunnyside". In the late afternoon when the sun is low over the lake it is double in intensity as it reflects off the water and into the trees creating an intense light source with strong shadows.

   This series has also seen me strip away much of the detail of previous work to concentrate more on color and design. This distilling of information to the core elements is what I believe aids in taking these paintings beyond the physical world to impact the viewer on a deeper level.

 

 Gary Haggquist  2010 
 

 

"#8, Sunnyside Series", acrylic on canvas, 24" x 72", 2009