Practice “slow looking” with exhibiting artists at the Gallery

Surrey, BC – Surrey Art Gallery Association announces their May Thursday Artist Talk with members of the Zinc Art Collective (Willa Downing, Lesley Garratt, Cora Li-Leger, and Claire Moore) from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. titled “Slow Looking Workshop.” Admission is free.

In conjunction with their exhibit A Tangled Thicket running until June 8, Z·inc invites people to attend a guided workshop of their Objects for Pondering collaborative art project adjacent to the Gallery space. Participants will see and touch an enticing array of small, fascinating items, such as miniature works of art, found animal and plant specimens, curios, and other memorabilia. Each object was carefully prepared by a member of Z·inc, or artists in their extended network, to spark the imagination of whomever interacts with it.

Artists will guide guests in the handling of bespoke art objects while discussing how art, stories, and memory combine within their own creative practices. In the words of Kwantlen Polytechnic University Creative Writing faculty member Dr. Aislinn Hunter, whose writing accompanies the project, “We sometimes forget that objects, if studied, can open up, reveal secrets, tell stories and take us places. We forget that the alarm clock was once a village rooster.”

Encouraging the careful examination of these items, Z·inc aims to help guests develop deeper connections with the objects in their own lives and to live with objects in a more mindful manner.

About the Artists

Willa Downing (b. 1952, Taiwan) grew up in London, Ontario, and moved to Vancouver to study at the University of British Columbia where she obtained a PhD in Biochemistry. She has worked in scientific research in Canada and abroad. Passionate about making art, Downing also has a diploma in painting and drawing from the Emily Carr College (now University) of Art + Design (ECUAD). Her artwork has been exhibited in BC and Alberta. Downing has taught at ECUAD and has lectured in plant biotechnology at Simon Fraser University. She lives and works in Surrey where she is a founding member of Z·inc Artist Collective.

Lesley Garratt was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1951 where she studied art for two years at Ontario College of Art (now OCAD University) and later received a BA in Psychology and Art at York University, notably studying with Vera Frenkel, the Canadian multidisciplinary artist. While maintaining a studio practice and exhibition roster, she worked as an art educator in Toronto, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Currently, Garratt lives and works in White Rock, British Columbia. A founding member of Z·inc Artist Collective and CAM (Contemporary Art Matters), the artist has worked over a decade within a collective voice to push the creative boundaries in the Greater Vancouver region.

After receiving a BFA from the University of Minnesota in 1975, Cora Li-Leger attended the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts under the tutelage of Joe Plaskett. There she met her husband Don and subsequently immigrated to Canada. She has lived in South Surrey since 1987. Through 2015, she had an active career as an expressive arts therapist. Having retired from that profession, drawing, bookmaking, and handiwork projects now comprise her practice. Much of her work engages in iterative processes, quietude, and meditative approaches. Li-Leger has participated in educational presentations, medical conference exhibitions, and artist book fairs, as well as exhibitions in BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Washington, and the UK. Several Pacific Northwest permanent collections include her work. 

Claire Moore was raised in apartheid South Africa where she studied art at Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town. Moore’s early work centred on human stories—people and place, power and control, belonging, and resilience. In 2007, Moore joined the fledgling Fort Gallery Collective where she showed work as a member for ten years. She participated in the local Day of Drawing movement, which morphed into Z·inc Artist Collective, and initiated over a decade of showing work in alternative spaces. Moore had exhibited in multiple venues across Surrey and the Lower Mainland, in a solo capacity at Douglas College (2017), and has commissioned paintings in Ojai (California), London (UK), and Sidney (Australia).

About Surrey Art Gallery Association 

Surrey Art Gallery Association (SAGA) is a non-profit society that offers its members the opportunity to participate in and respond to contemporary art and be part of a community that actively supports Surrey Art Gallery. sagabc.com

About Surrey Art Gallery

Founded in 1975, Surrey Art Gallery presents contemporary art by local, national, and international artists, including digital and audio art. Recognized for its award-winning programs, the Gallery engages children through to adults in ongoing conversations that affect our lives and provides opportunities to interact with artists and the artistic process. The Gallery is located at 13750 88 Avenue in Surrey on the unceded territories of the Salish Peoples, including the q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie), q̓ʷɑ:n̓ƛ̓ən̓ (Kwantlen), and Semiahma (Semiahmoo) nations. Surrey Art Gallery gratefully acknowledges operating funding from the City of Surrey, Province of BC through BC Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, and the Surrey Art Gallery Association.