issue 09 / volume 41

A journey of emotions and memories

» Paintings and mixed media art at Amelia Douglas Gallery

Cheryl Minns
Arts Editor
Marts
@theotherpress.ca

 

Fx: fabric, and frogs are
on display at the Amelia
Douglas Gallery as part of Paul
Burgoyne’s exhibit, Journey,

a collection of artwork that
showcases his evolution as

an artist. The exhibit features
abstract, figure, and landscape
paintings as well as mixed
media art.

“I feel compelled to
produce experimental pieces,
as though diversity and chance
are what defines my work,”
Burgoyne wrote in his artist’s
statement in the exhibit
catalogue, available in the
Amelia Douglas Gallery.

The centrepiece of the
exhibit is its namesake,

that was inspired by the death
of a close friend and explores
the meaning of an individual’s

—

 

: life. The piece features a well-

: dressed man walking along a

: path through time and space

: with representations all around
: him of love, family, greed,

: gluttony, and more.

Other artwork in the

: gallery was also influenced by
: Burgoyne’s memories, such as
_ . + “Barns XXVII,” a painting that
‘Journey,’ a conceptual painting : captures the landscape he saw
: growing up on the prairies,

: and “P ool Party,” a mixed

: media piece inspired by a

: friend’s unconventional use of a :
: swimming pool.

“He couldn't swim, so he

: turned it intoa fishpond. Then
: he threw in bathtub toys,”

: Burgoyne said during his talk

: at the gallery on February 20.

: The artwork shows a koi fish in
: water with miniature rubber

: ducks made of clay.

Burgoyne also included

: clay figures in his three-
: dimensional, mixed media
: piece “Twelve French Flavours,”

   

ce ton

which consists of 12 colourful

: frogs lined up in rows. The

: piece was influenced by his

: memories of growing up

: around frogs, which were all
: around a lake he used to

: walk by.

Along with using acrylic,

: oil, clay, epoxy, and other

? materials in his works,

: Burgoyne used Indian print

: fabric in the piece “Roulette”
: and accented it with laser-

: cut mirrors and about 3,500

arts // 9

: Swarovski crystals in stylized
: patterns.

“I walked into an Indian

: fabric store and I discovered

: this piece of fabric. It was so

: sparkly and, like a pearl, I gave

: ita shine,” he said during his

: talk, noting the embellishments
: he added to the artwork.

Most of the artwork in

: the Journey exhibit is for sale,
: ranging from $850 to $9,500

: per piece. A few of the pieces
: from Burgoyne’s personal
Photograph by Cheryl Minns collection—"Barns XXVII,"

: “Homage to Piet,” and “After

: Caravaggio”’—are not for sale,

: but are included in the exhibit

: toadd to the rich history of how
: his art has evolved.

To learn more about

Burgoyne and his work,
: check out his website at
: BurgoyneFineArt.com.

The Journey exhibit will

: be on display until April 10 at
: the Amelia Douglas Gallery,

: located on the fourth floor

: of the Douglas College New

: Westminster campus.

 

Chairman of the Board:
The real ‘Game of Life’

» ‘Chez Geek’ game review

Ed Appleby
illustrator
Miillustrator
@theotherpress.ca

hat better way to waste
time than by playing a
game about wasting time?
Chez Geek is a card game
for two to five players designed
by Jon Darbro, illustrated by

Steve Jackson Games in 1999.
In the game, you and the other
players share an apartment.
You try to out-slack your
roommates as much as your
job allows by watching TV or
buying cool stuff.

The game works better
and faster than Jackson/

Munchkin. Whereas Munchkin
is very player-versus-player,
Chez Geek is a lot lighter and
friendlier. Anyone who knows
about the thrill of living with
roommates will recognize a
lot of the jokes and situations
that come up during the game,
like the uninvited guest who

your food, or the parental visit

: weed and smokes.

I do encourage players

: to really get into the game.

: One rule that I found is often
: ignored is “announce your

: actions like it is the most

: important thing in the world.”
: Instead players try to play

: cards quickly with as little

: fanfare as possible. But this

: is important to gameplay, as

: your roommates need time
John Kovalic, and published by : to remind you that the new
: episode of Who Wants to

: Marry a Creepy Weirdo is

: onand you can go shopping
: tomorrow.

The one downside of the

: game is that it hasn't aged well.
: Geek culture has changed a lot
: in the last 16 years, and dial-

: up modems and landlines are
Kovalic’s other team up project, : relegated to history. A recent

: expansion, Chez Geek: Slack

: to the Future (2014), hopefully
: will solve some of these issues

: by bringing in more up-to-date
: technology to waste time.

I would seriously

: recommend trying this game.
: It’s a fun “meta” game for

: groups who live together or
drinks all your beer and eats all : have been playing games

: together for a while.
that forces you to ditch all your :