INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / OCTOBER 30, 1990

 

 

 

Artist exhibits provocative work at College

 

o step into David

Secunda’s studio
apartment is to step into
a world pulsing with
tribal ritual. Sculptures
inspired by indigenous
cultures are propped in
corners. Huge, ghoulish
masks hang on walls.

Secunda’s art has
the potential to inspire
fear, but it is enlighten-
ing to hear the artist ex-
plain his work. "It is a
visual metaphor from
various legends and
myths that tell the story
of spiritual phases like
creation, decay, rebirth,
and resurrection," he
says.

Secunda has put
together an exhibit that
opens November 17 in
the Douglas College
Theatre Foyer. It’s part
of Douglas College’s
Open House celebration.
The exhibit is called
Creavolution: Fibre Sculp-
ture, Masks and Paintings
in 3-D.

His sculptures

 

 

ings sit in plastic con-
tainers in the closet,
and the ideas germinate
in the artist’s mind.

"I plan to finish
them all in an intense
session that will probab-
ly last for several days,
and Ili work up to 18
hours a day," says
Secunda. "I always
work like this; sometimes
I even forget to eat."

Secunda’s work is
powerful, overwhelm-
ing. When asked how
he feels about disturb-
ing or frightening
people with it, Secunda
remains true to his in-
spiration. "The anthro-
pology courses I took in
University led me to
read articles about the
rituals of other cultures,
so creating my masks
and sculptures was my
way of knowing about
these cultures. People
are afraid of this work
when they view it from
an ethno-centric
perspective."

 

 

resemble human figures,
or disfigures. They are in
a stage of decay - grey,
with collapsing facial
structures and protrud-
ing bare bones - but the
decaying forms shroud a
vibrant face coloured
red, which Secunda
describes as the ‘womb’.
"Even though they look
depressing, there is a
glimmer of hope on the
inside," says Secunda.
His paintings are built out
using rubber latex for a 3-dimen-
sional effect. One painting, called
Resurrection Sea, depicts disem-
bodied vertebrae rising from a
human form towards the sky. Tree
Of Fertility is in deep red and is

Legends and myths from indigenous cultures
inspire Secunda’s art. The above mask and a
selection of paintings and scuptural pieces will be
on view in the Theatre Foyer from Open House,
November 17, through December 21.

draped with cheesecloth. It’s tex-
ture suggests veins, or lifelines.
The other paintings to be
shown at the exhibit presently sit
in Secunda’s studio, but in three
separate places. The canvasses
lean against one wall, blank, while
the materials to make the paint-

He has a social
statement to make, as
well as a suggestion for
the uninitiated about
how to approach his
work. "Our society’s
most popular media
form is television,
which conditions us to
respond to literal mes-
sages," says Secunda,
"whereas my work ex-
presses non-literal mes-
sages or symbols which are open
ended and must be interpreted by
each individual."

Creavolution: Fibre Sculpture,
Masks And Paintings In 3-D opens
Saturday, November 17, 1990, in
the Theatre Foyer at Douglas Col-
lege in New Westminster.

 

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