issue 15 // volume 43 arts // no. 9 Fresh perspectives on the familiar > ‘Vuja De’ exhibit opening in Amelia Douglas Gallery Caroline Ho Arts Editor or Claire Sarfeld, artist of the Amelia Douglas Gallery's newest exhibit Vuja De, every painting she creates is an experience both new and familiar. Vuja De opens on Thursday, January 12, and Sarfeld hopes that viewers will find something they recognize in the abstract, fast-moving lines of her art. Vuja De—the opposite of déja vu—is the sensation of being ina familiar situation or environment, and finding something new in it. “The best way that I have explained it to people,” Sarfeld said, “is, say, you're driving to work every day and you take the same road, and one morning you have the realization of something that you've never really noticed before.” This is the sensation that Sarfeld captures in her own work. She begins every painting the same way, stretching out and priming the canvas and laying it on the ground, but although the process is the same, each piece is a new way to explore something that inspires her. Vuja De will feature about 18 paintings, the largest show that Sarfeld has done so far, and most of the paintings will be entirely new, including some that she’s completed within the last few days. Her work is mainly done with acrylic, and she utilizes a huge variety of tools, including painter’s rollers, scrapers, and a range of brushes of different sizes. She even creates some of the tools herself. “I’ve done a few pieces where I can’t buy brushes big enough, so I have to attach them and figure out a way to make the marks that I want to make without the tools,” Sarfeld said. The results of these homemade tools are often unexpected, and usually ina good way. “That's kind of the cool part of what I do. Sometimes the best mistakes happen when youre really not too focused on what you're making.” She calls these “happy mistakes” or “little moments.” It’s part of her approach to painting. Dating sim diversity > What to play in a genre marked mostly by more of the same Lauren Kelly Editor-in-Chief I? the world of video games, dating sims often have the reputation of being very heterocentric and problematic. However, as game development has diversified, so too have the offerings at hand for those of us wanting to experience new stories. For those who are unaware of the genre, they are mostly visual novels, where you click through pages of story and usually still pictures, and are given choices to decide how it plays out. In this subset of visual novels, your choices decide which of a set amount of love interests you date, and whether youre successful at dating them. Although there are more out there, here are three of the best. Katawa Shoujo Katawa Shoujo by Four Leaf Studios takes place at a school for students with disabilities, which the male main character has just begun attending. There are five girls who you have the option to romance, and all of their stories are handled deftly and with great respect. There is also much more to each character than her disability. For example, Rin is a painter born with a birth defect resulting in her not having fully formed arms. However, her plotline focuses heavily on how she deals with mental illness, due to her being unable to communicate effectively. This is a game that could have gone horribly wrong, but instead it’s beautiful, crushing, and a lot of fun. There are also few explicit scenes, and you can turn them off without missing much. It’s free to download on their website, and it’s something everyone should play, even if just to better understand those around us who are living with disabilities. Coming out on Top Coming out on Top is a gay dating sim put out by ObscuraSoft. In it, you play Mark Matthews, who comes out of the closet at the beginning of the game. Your romance options are varied, including a Taiwanese punk rocker, a black marine, a redhead jock, your blonde professor, Photograph via clairesarfeld.com “I don't plan any of my pieces before I go into them,” she explained. Sarfeld draws a lot of inspiration from her environment, and being in BC definitely has a big impact on her work. “When I was in school in Toronto, I came back [to BC] for Christmas every year... and when I would go back [to Ontario], my lines were a lot less rigid, and they were way looser, and it was more colourful. And I noticed that as I made the transition to moving out here, I lost a lot of the geometric forms completely.” She attributes a lot of this to how active she is and how much time she spends outdoors, citing for inspiration and your best friend. You also have the option to give each man a beard and body hair, so you can tailor it to your preferences. The writing is clever and entertaining, making it enjoyable for multiple playthroughs. However, the game is very explicit, so go into it aware of that fact. It’s also nearly $20 USD, so it is a bit costly, but you can play the free demo and decide for yourself if it suits your taste. Cute Demon Crashers Cute Demon Crashers is quite different from the previous two. First, the player character is a woman, and the game is not truly a dating sim. Instead, the one particular 14 kilometre trail near Hayward Lake in Mission, where she lives. As well as being an artist, Sarfeld is a very active runner, and one notable characteristic of her paintings is their fluid sense of movement. She usually trains in the morning before working in the studio in the afternoon, and she takes that energy into her art. “That's what really inspires me, to have the viewer's eyes dart around the canvas and really feel that sense of movement.” “There’s not a big meaning behind my paintings, it’s more of just a feeling,” she said. She loves it when people tell her that they see certain shapes and images in her work, often in ways she never would have imagined herself. “I think it’s a way for people to approach abstract paintings, because it’s kind of hard to wrap your head around. I’m definitely very open about things like that, people putting their own images and ideas into my work, I think that’s great.” Vuja De will be on display in the Amelia Douglas Gallery, on the fourth floor of Douglas College’s New Westminster campus, from January 12 to February 25. There will be an opening reception on January 12, from 4:30 p-m. to 7:30 p.m., with refreshments and a no-host bar, and an artist’s talk on Saturday, January 14, at 3:30 p.m., both of which are open to the public. Image via www.gamefags.com 1 dd character is sexually frustrated, and four demons come into her house to help her out. There are three men and one woman, and they each have different amounts of sexual experience and very different personalities. However, the best part of this game is the heavy focus on consent. Each step of the way, all of the characters check in with you to make sure youre comfortable with what’s happening, and you can choose to not engage with any character and everyone is very understanding. It’s fantastic, and much shorter than the other two games, so it’s less of an investment. It’s also free, so if it sounds like it’s up your alley, go grab it right now!