Corey Hardeman | Time and Tide
to
Aesthete Fine Arts 494 George Street, Prince George, British Columbia V2L 5G4
Corey Hardeman, "Night River"
oil on canvas, 36”x36”. Courtesy of the artist.
Opening Reception: January 28th, 2023 at 5:00pm
"All of my painting is undertaken as an examination of my place among living things, and of the changes I have witnessed to the life systems around me. My observations lend context to my inquiry into my relationship with home and habitat, with my own species and with the planet. Together, my paintings comprise a documentary view of home, of a planet undergoing rapid change, of the changes I have witnessed in my own time and place. I try to make paintings that are evocative, rooted in place and acute detail but also abstractly beautiful. My academic background in life sciences and, later, architectural drafting, lends structure to my work. I work in oil paint, and natural light is an integral element of my work. I take photographs and make cryptic sketches outdoors in most weather, and work from memory, dreams, and reference materials to develop my paintings in studio. I am interested specifically in documenting the changes that mark the edges of things, changes of light, and changes in terrain. These paintings are intended to convey a sense of the fragility of time and the distorting lens of memory. Water and undergrowth lend themselves especially well to exploring abstract forms as they occur in the natural world, and my landscapes consider these forms in the context of memory, longing, and belonging, surprise and delight, loss and absence." - Corey Hardeman