For as long as she can remember, Autumn Skye Morrison has felt an urgency and duty to transmit through her artwork, which is where the name for her upcoming show comes from. Transmission: New Works by Autumn Skye, opens Thursday, December 15, at Space Gallery on Marine Avenue.
“The exhibit will be a collection of approximately 20 paintings, all recent, within the last year or two, and some as new as a few days old,” said Morrison. “I have some brand-new pieces that I’m excited to unveil, as well as a couple of mixed-media sculptures and some fun, new wearable art pieces and other inspiring products.”
Morrison is a recognizable figure in Powell River’s art scene as co-founder of Vale Society, an artists’ collective.
She is a night owl, by her own admission, who paints deep into the morning hours because, she said, it has always been a potently creative time for her.
“I hear from many other artists that it is for them, too,” she said. “It may be the darkness and the silence that helps to focus intent and attention, like a single flame in a dark room, or it may be the fact that most other people around are asleep and in dream realms, adding magic and imagination to the collective consciousness.”
Describing Morrison’s work is difficult. It is a celebration of the mystical, feminine and human. Some of her pieces are socially inspired and political, others are spiritual.
One of her new paintings is dramatic in its exploration of a political theme. Entitled, Liberty, it features a female figure draped in the flags of many nations. She said it is directly inspired by recent events in the United States.
“I began the piece in the couple of days leading up to the US election,” she said. “At the time I didn’t intend it to be related at all, thinking it was simply a figure draped in flowing fabric and assuming it would probably include some fantastical cosmic elements.”
Those cosmic elements are familiar themes in Morrison’s works and often an inspiration that guides her paintbrush. However, the esoteric is not so much the case with Liberty.
“I could feel the collective tension and weight of the election day nearing as the world prepared itself for the outcome, and what it would mean individually, socially and globally, no matter which side won,” she said. “I began to realize that I was painting Lady Liberty, and though she was weary with tear-stained cheeks, she was waking up, rising up and shedding the oppressive weight of nationalism, labelling and separation.”
Darlene Calwell, owner of Dancing Tree Gallery in Powell River, said she, like many, has a hard time describing Morrison’s work. Morrison has a small, permanent exhibit alongside other local artists at Dancing Tree.
Calwell, who is a potter, said she is a big fan of Morrison, just as many people are around the world.
“I pick what I like and Skye’s personality and work is just phenomenal,” said Calwell. “She’s out there and just so good.”
Because each of her paintings is so “out there,” it is difficult to place Morrison in any genre because of who she is, said Calwell.
“I’ve seen other painters who can do five or six styles, but it’s not their personality and it shows in the work,” said Calwell.
According to Morrison, her paintings are not planned. She said she sees everything new that she creates not so much as a departure from previous work but as an arrival.
“I begin only with a loose idea, or a seed of a concept,” she said. “As a painting develops and evolves, new elements or symbols come to mind intuitively. I do not cling to what is already on the canvas and often will spend many hours working on something, only to then suddenly know I need to paint over it or change it into something else.”
Morrison said that while her art is difficult to label, she will often describe it as a reflection, or a mirror, and that is what she hopes viewers will see in her work.
“As people stand before my paintings, it’s my hope that they receive some deepened understanding of themselves or the world around them,” she said, “and that they find some sense of inner peace, empowerment and healing.”
For more information on Morrison’s work, go to autumnskyemorrison.com.
