Art, Wit, and Other Coping Mechanisms - Mixed Media

April 30th - May 24th 2026 at Gibsons Public Art Gallery. When the world starts to feel absurd, we have art to hold us. This show moves through a familiar rhythm, from a symbolic morning of hope, to a night marked by doubt, and everything in between. It follows the ways we cope, make sense of things, and keep going, even when nothing quite adds up. Creativity runs through the work as both lifeline and inquiry. Engaging with art - getting our hands dirty, our minds solving problems - is not just a way to get through. It’s a way of working with what’s unresolved, and looking a little closer, with intention.It’s therapy and escape, all at once. The wit? It’s in the storylines, the contexts and the titles, subtle or otherwise. It makes heavy things a little lighter. The paintings carry a dream-like, contemporary relic quality. Strong shapes sit alongside distressed, shifting atmospheres, built layer upon layer, holding both clarity and erosion at once - much like we all do at some point or another. The work doesn’t try to resolve the tension that is born from this duality. It stays with it, and asks what it means to continue anyway. This is a series that might grow to be a bigger exhibition, with works from 2020 to 2026.