Alex Garant, "Odyssey"

Haven Gallery is pleased to present “Odyssey”, a solo show of new work from Canada based artist Alex Garant. “Odyssey” is Garant's third solo show at the gallery and features twelve new oil paintings that explore themes of color, form, shape and design. They are a visual and artistic journey as the artist expands her motif while simultaneously moving from her home in Canada to new lodgings in the United States. The title may reflect the long distance travel as well as the continued exploration of movement in her work. Garant’s portraits have always focused on motion and optical illusions, suggesting her sitters are in flux in the corporal form, or perhaps, a representation of the multiple selfs present in all of us. “Odyssey” takes this one step further as abstract forms of color, shape and design extend themselves in what can be suggested as the form of continual movement. The theme and prevalence of motion originating in her characteristic “double eye” portraiture evolves further in this series. Thick undulations of paint are paired with realistically painted sitters, allowing a play on technique and contrast of gesticulation. The prominence of this fluctuation may even echo string theory, or the idea that everything is made up of tiny, vibrating strings. The double exposed nature of each portrait harks to antique and contemporary methods of photography and are also suggestive of the historic movements in art such a futurism and op art. The hallucinogenic qualities of Garant’s work create an optical reaction resulting in an individualized experience. Capturing a moment of perpetual motion through perhaps humans most telling body part, the eyes, playfully provokes the viewers sensory experience. This illusionary effect of motion offers a glimpse of the multifaceted and oftentimes multi-self trait to humanity, both that of one’s own volition as well as the latent workings of the subconscious and unconscious mind.