Faces are in focus in the next exhibition at Amelia Douglas Gallery.
Face It!, an exhibition of work by Coquitlam artist Ornella Maruccio-Belhomme, runs from Wednesday, Oct. 24 to Saturday, Dec. 15 at the gallery at Douglas College’s New Westminster campus. An opening reception is set for Friday, Oct. 26 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., with an artist’s talk at 6:30 p.m.
The exhibition is a collection of 32 pieces that share faces as a subject. The pieces use a variety of mediums and techniques, including fabric and paper collages, oil paintings on canvas and wood, watercolour paintings and hand-quilted textile panels.
“I play with forms and materials until I reach a final composition, which, in some ways, will remind me of ‘perfection,’” Maruccio-Belhomme said in a press release. “In my creative process there are no limits for inspiration, which can come as far as the depth of my memory and soul – the shape of archetypal forms – or from the space around me, in the shape of natural and human forms.”
Maruccio-Belhomme is from Italy. Influenced by her father, who was also an artist, she studied the fine arts in Rome and went on to get a master’s degree in architecture. Until recently, her artwork has only been housed in private collections in Italy, Belgium, the U.K. and Canada.
“We are thrilled to showcase Ornella in one of her first public gallery exhibitions,” said Krista Eide, arts events officer at Douglas College. “After a lifetime of making art, she is now bravely stepping forward to share her multimedia artwork with a wider audience, and the aptly named Face It! is a unique body of work years in the making.”
Amelia Douglas Gallery is on the fourth floor north at Douglas College, 700 Royal Ave. It’s open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. See www.douglascollege.ca/artsevents.
