An art show featuring the work of female artists from Muskoka is being featured at a Bracebridge gallery.
“Through Her Eyes, In Her Hands” is an installation created by Serena West and initiated by the YWCA that allows women to either explore some of the challenges in their lives or just straight up art in various forms.
“What we wanted to do is celebrate women in the arts,” says West. “And celebrate where we’ve come from and how far we’ve come as women.”
In her first show at the Chapel Gallery last year it was only her own works featured. This year West has only one piece with 21 other artists displaying their work.
“It’s everything from sculptures to painting to printmaking, and photography,” she explains. “It includes all of that.”
West reveals her piece is very much about the at times hard journey she has experienced as a woman.
“My piece, I definitely focused on that,” she explains. “I called it Lotus and to me, it’s about bringing in different colours to represent many women but also I left some of the underlaying of the painting there.
“The pencil marks and the underpainting to represent that our whole journey is important, even kind of the messy parts as well as the finished piece. A flower that comes up from muddy waters and grows towards the sun. And showing that our whole journey, even the difficult parts can make us strong.”
While the show officially started on February 16th, a grand reception is being held to time with International Women’s Day on March 8th. It runs at the Chapel Gallery, 15 King Street, Bracebridge from 6:00pm to 8:00pm.
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, from 10:00am to 1:00pm and from 2:00pm until 5:00pm with admission by donation. For more information, you can visit the gallery website by clicking here.