Elgin artist Pat Walsh to display work in a solo exhibition

On Sunday, April 3rd at 1:00 P.M. the Haut-Saint-Laurent MRC will present the work of local Pat Walsh at the Salle Alfred-Langevin in Huntingdon, Quebec. The Elgin resident is excited to present “Fish out of Water” in a solo exhibition—her work will be displayed until the 24th of the month.

Teaching at both the HAECC in Huntingdon and at Montreal’s Centre des Arts Visuels, Walsh is a popular teacher within the community—in fact, many of Walsh’s students have exhibited their work at Huntingdon’s Little Green Library throughout the year. Walsh, who is a founding member of Montreal’s Powerhouse Gallery (one of Canada's oldest artist-run centres, now called La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse), has exhibited widely in not only Montreal but in eastern Canada. Graduating with a BFA from Mount Allison University, she completed her MFA in Studio Art at Concordia University, opting for a double major in multimedia and photography.

Working primarily with watercolours, Walsh’s paintings draw inspiration from the many places she has visited, from work done on location in Alaska, New York State, Maine, and the Chateauguay Valley—to mention a few. “It is not intended to be a passive experience –it is meant to provoke”, she said of the collection of works that have carried her through a number of life-changing experiences. For instance, a series of paintings was motivated by the Mumbai terrorist attacks, which claimed the life of a close friend. Observers might notice the presence of fish as predominant figures in the artist’s work—a symbol that Walsh uses to convey any number of sentiments within her pieces.

For Walsh, the exhibit is a forum through which to examine and discuss the conflicts and questions she has faced while struggling with “…the tremendous fragility of being part of this world, and also the dichotomy of feeling estranged from the world.” According to a recent press release composed to promote her exhibit, “(Walsh’s) work tends toward the subtle rather than the narrative, and the subjective use of colour and context, with form reduced or abstracted, allows the viewer to look beyond the surface of the image and engage with the feelings or states expressed in the paintings.”

Entrance to the exhibit is free.