Wren Katzalay - March 2010 - Artist Of the Month !

I have spent my artistic life in pursuit of that intangible something, that place in-between where it all makes sense.
My practice is process focused, and although I may have an idea or subject that I begin with, my work evolves in the studio. The explorations in my work take place with a variety of materials and tools: plaster, paper, paint, photography, graphite, charcoal. Then the materials are layered, scratched into scrapped away, and added back hinting that a deeper meaning lies beneath the surface.

The fleeting moments of memory dominate my work at present, I am interested in the process we go through to suppress memories or elaborate an event. I create works that are reminiscent of old walls and or derelict buildings and spaces.

Memories can be buried within the walls and structures and in theory our memories and experiences can live on in the buildings long after we are gone. Hence the saying, “If these walls could talk”

Recognizing that we all have our own stories, I attempt to find and honor mine, by developing a visual language that brings my stories to a world beyond the canvas. Allowing the viewer to draw their own conclusion yet with some sense of knowing that we have connected.





Website: www.wrenkatzalay.ca

Irma Argyriou, Sylvia Bews-Wright and Wren Katzalay-"Parallel Visions" at Martin Batchelor Gallery

Wren Katzalay in " Question Period "

1. -What is your artistic background?
I started painting as a child in my Father's studio, and always "dabbled". it wasn't until I was an adult and had already had a career, that I decided to go to Art School. I gradated from the Victoria College of Art in 1997 and have been painting full-time ever since.

2. -How do you describe your work?
My work is completely process driven, I am interested in mark making and the layering of materials, I use many materials and objects to create the works,plaster, graphite, charcoal, and paint are layered, scratched into, scrapped away and added back, lines are intentionally obscured, hinting that a deeper meaning lies beneath the surface. Although the works are autobiographical in nature the symbols are often arcane.

3.-Who are the living artists you find more interesting?
Cy Twombly, Cecily Brown

4.-Who are the no longer living artists you find most interesting?
Rauschenberg, de Kooning, Kandinsky, Durer, The Fauves and Cezanne

5. -Should art have a social/political message?
If what the artist is trying to say has a social of political message, then that is what the artist intended. Some very powerful art has had a social or political message.

6.-Why do you do art?
Because I have to!!! It's like breathing.

Wren Katzalay
www.wrenkatzalay.ca
Victoria BC, Canada