Jo-Ann Sheen: Retrospective

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Jo-Anne Sheen Retrospective Invitation

An opening reception will be held on August 13th, 1-4 pm.

The Fort Gallery is honoured to present Jo-Ann Sheen: Retrospective, featuring the artwork of Jo-Ann Sheen, a longtime and beloved member of the gallery, who passed away in May. Jo-Ann was an accomplished and prolific printmaker, a graduate of Emily Carr University and SFU, and a member of Malaspina Printmakers Society.

Jo-Ann’s first serious works after art school, a series of portraits layered with etchings of decomposing leaves or other textures, reflect her interest in how peoples’ faces reveal only part of who they are; behind every face, there are stories. This interest evolved into works that include hands, about the body language that often betrays the facial mask. These works also incorporate Jo-Ann’s delight in getting people involved in art: her drawings of hands and faces are mounted separately, and viewers are invited to mix and match them to create different expressions.

In another interactive project, Jo-Ann hung coaster-sized rag paper stained by wet tea-bags on the gallery wall and invited visitors to elaborate on what they could see in the stains by drawing into them. We will be reprising this project for the retrospective.

Jo-Ann’s most recent art, made from garbage, reflects her ability to see beauty in everything. Begun in collaboration with Claire Moore and Diana Durrand for a project called “Package Deal”, Jo-Ann made printing plates from squashed fast-food containers and printed these on rag paper. She was fascinated with the care, engineering and detail that goes into single-use items. Her sense of humour infuses many of these prints, with little figures hanging from squashed water bottles or climbing through cogs made from pie plates, with funny or ironic titles.