CANADIAN LANDSCAPE SERIES
2023 - 2024
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In early 2023, I started a series of 13 Canadian landscape paintings - one for each province and territory in Canada. This series will be completed by mid-2024 and is set to debut at my solo exhibition at the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre in September 2024.
I was inspired to create this series for a few reasons. First, I wanted to explore my new Barcode Landscape painting style in a series that would push me out of my artistic comfort zone. The different landscapes that can be found across Canada allowed me to explore how Barcode Landscapes look in a wide variety of applications such as daytime vs. nighttime color palettes, waterfalls, rock formations, lakes and forests, etc. Second, I wanted to create a series that was relatable and would foster connection. The pandemic created so much division between Canadians. The media focused on how our beliefs differ rather than what we all have in common. This "us vs. them" mentality brought out the worst in a lot of people. These paintings seek to remind us that we have more in common than we think! Third, I wanted to create a series that would spark feelings of joy and positivity. Between the pandemic, climate change, wars going on, and the many other social and political issues that consume our news feeds every day, there is an abundance of doom and gloom that often makes my heart feel heavy. The palette I am using for this series is vibrant and colorful, packed full of rainbows and punches of neon colors. The palette is intended to be JOYFUL and INCLUSIVE. It is my hope that these paintings will spread positivity into the world in some small way. You can read more about my Canadian Landscape series on my blog where I discuss the series as a whole as well as each individual painting. |
Me with the first half of my Canadian Landscape series (July 2023)
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BARCODE LANDSCAPES
2022 - present
Knox Mountain (2022)
Good Morning, Vancouver! (2022)
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Barcode Landscapes are a new style of contemporary, semi-abstracted landscape paintings I developed in the Summer of 2022. I instantly fell in love! This was the first time in my 17 years of practice that I had ever had any interest in painting a landscape (go figure!), so the transition has been both scary and exciting for me.
My Barcode Landscape paintings capture the essence of familiar landmarks using colorful "barcodes", geometric lines and shapes, and gradient fading effects. I am drawn to vibrant palettes and often incorporate rainbows and neon colors. The paintings are created in stages, allowing time to dry between each application. Each piece takes around 6-8 weeks to complete. The process of creating a Barcode Landscape painting is a slow burn, but the results are deeply satisfying and have managed to capture my very short attention span for 2+ years now! The idea for Barcode Landscapes came to me so unexpectedly that I can only attribute it to divine intervention. If was one of those pivotal "a-ha!" moments that you only experience a few times in your life (if you're lucky). I was so sure that Barcode Landscapes would be my signature painting style that I actually registered a domain name before I even started my first landscape painting! Weird, right?! This style was inspired by my TV Test Card series. I loooved the patterns and straight lines found in my TV Test Card paintings and wanted to translate those elements into work that would be more meaningful to more people. The first two Barcode Landscape paintings were "Knox Mountain" and "Good Morning, Vancouver!" (shown in photos). After creating a body of work in this new style and having the opportunity to show these pieces to the world, I feel confident that I am on the right path. The feedback I have received about my Barcode Landscape paintings has been overwhelmingly positive. Some of the best compliments I have received are people commenting that they have never seen anything like it". As an artist, these comments touch my soul. Every artist wants to bring something unique into the world, so it affirms to me that I am using my creative talents the way I was intended to. |
TV TEST CARD SERIES
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RECYCLING PROJECT
2022
If You Don't Recycle (2022)
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The Recycling Project is a series I started in early 2022 to get my creative juices flowing again after a two-year (pandemic-induced) break. Over the past 15 years, I have accumulated a lot of “work-in-progress” (over 200 canvases to be exact!) and they take up a lot of space. Most of these canvases are early works that I have hung on to for sentimental reasons; others are paintings that I have started at some point and either forgotten about or lost interest in. It was time to make some tough decisions about whether to keep them, put them into storage, or get rid of them once and for all!
I couldn't bear the idea of throwing away these tangible pieces of my life's journey (or taking up that much space in the landfill!), so I made a promise to myself that I would do something with these canvases in the near future. The Recycling Project is that “something”. I decided to repurpose these old canvases one-by-one - incorporating what was already on the canvas with my new ideas. I wanted to let my creativity run wild without any rules or expectations. The Recycling Project is not a cohesive body of work - each painting is unique and very different. It was the perfect project to get me painting again, and I managed to complete 4 paintings before getting distracted by my TV Test Card series lol. This project is "paused" for the time being, but I may circle back when the time is right. |
ARTIST STATEMENTS - CURRENT WORK 2022-2024 | DANIELLE HARSHENIN ARTIST
