The next art show at the BIAC Gallery will feature art and photography by wife and husband team Diana and Rafal Izdebski.
This is the first solo show for the Bowen Islanders who recently moved back to the rock and have (easily) settled into island life. Diana has always been recognized for her artistic abilities, having won a few art competitions in grade school, but has never pursued formal training. In the last couple of years she started painting for friends and family, experimenting with different media and developing her own style. She will highlight the show with her acrylic paintings that are heavily inspired by the natural beauty of Howe Sound and the West Coast. Diana likes to add a graphic design twist to her landscapes and doesn’t quite know what to call her signature style yet. She also dabbles in other art forms and will be including some odds and ends in the collection, including acrylic paintings on birch board that play off the texture of the wood.
Diana will also show some of her traditional trade work: archaeological illustrations. These are often black and white stipple and line drawn representations of artifacts and other archaeological finds. With a background in archaeology, Diana wanted to incorporate her natural artistic talents into the more technical nature of the social science, and thus found herself freelancing as an archaeological illustrator. She has done in-field illustrations in Hawaii and Tahiti as well as illustrated over 40 images for the new Polynesian Hall exhibit at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. Some of these illustrations, including colour site reconstructions, will also be on display.
Rafal grew up on the island throughout his high school and college years. The island life inspired him to seek out the nature that surrounds him and capture it in the form of photography. His photographs have been featured in calendars, papers and on TV. Recently, Rafal began experimenting in photography using various filters to produce artistic photos that play on the effects of light and shadow. He has also included photos from his numerous trips to Hawaii where he and Diana got married in 2010.
The show Faces and Places runs at The Gallery at Artisan Square from August 20 until September 14. Reception on August 30, 7-9pm. See you there!
