Organized Chaos

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Luke Ramsey, “Holding Space,” 2020, acrylic on canvas, 36” x 48”

The paintings in Luke Ramsey’s upcoming exhibition at Madrona Gallery in Victoria seem to channel a mural aesthetic with flat colour fields and simplified semi-abstract imagery that points to natural forms like orcas and driftwood afloat amidst sea and sky. 

Ramsey titled the show Real Cloud, and says it emerged from his reflections about the complexities of nature – the tangled roots of trees, the tributaries of rivers – as well as the vast flows of information that bathe us every day on our phones and computers.

A self-taught artist based in Powell River, B.C., he describes his work as “organized chaos.”

“I’m basically trying to take that concept of chaos and organize it and make it tidy and clean,” he says.

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Luke Ramsey, “Real Cloud,” 2020, acrylic on canvas, 30” x 24”

Ramsey completed the works in the show over the last year or so, after serving as Victoria’s first artist-in-residence from 2017 to 2018. In Victoria, where he spent most of his childhood after emigrating from Britain, he organized public activities and oversaw the completion of four collaborative murals. After that very busy time, he decided to work alone in his studio.

The show’s titular painting, Real Cloud, is a reflection on solitude based on the ocean sunsets he sees from his home. 

“I’m always looking to see if there’s just one lone cloud floating along that reflects that light,” he says.

He began to think about his dependency on the digital cloud, whether for uploading content, watching movies or keeping in touch via social media. 

“A lot of content that we share online can be so fleeting,” he says. “You’re uploading to this cloud and it’s ever-changing and more stuff is coming through. And I look at the clouds in nature and I see that too. The cloud doesn’t stay the same form for too long. It evolves and changes as it floats along.”

The painting, he says, reaches for a feeling that’s both happy and sad.

“There’s a loneliness to it, but also a sense of serenity and belonging – being alone and being comfortable with that.” ■ 

Real Cloud is at the Madrona Gallery in Victoria from Sept. 12 to Sept. 26, 2020.

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