Multi-layered artwork captures Okanagan shores during hot summer days

The Kelowna Art Gallery unveiled the second site-specific art installation presented in its recently created Glass Gallery space, a space dedicated to showcase work by artists from the Okanagan. Currently showcased is Kelowna-based artist Christina McGovern’s installation titled Shoreline.

Viewable twenty-four-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, the Glass Gallery space is situated at the main entrance of the Kelowna Art Gallery at 1315 Water Street.

McGovern’s work plays with the contrast between straight lines, the natural flow of watercolour paints, and the many textures inherent in fibre textiles and raw paper.

Shoreline makes use of the natural textures and movement of McGovern’s freely suspended multi-layered work to reference the Okanagan shores during long hot summer days. In fact, the work is comprised of five separate layers, which give the installation an added depth and help to create the illusion of a shoreline and receding landscape.

In 2017, McGovern began to further experiment with artistic mediums and aesthetic, to create what she calls “tapestries on paper.” This would ultimately lay the groundwork for her most recent work Shoreline.

“Tapestries on paper emerged from a strong desire to create something that was uniquely mine. The texture and planned perfection of the embroidery element, mixed with the natural flow of watercolour, is artistically stimulating,” she says.

Shoreline is on view at the Kelowna Art Gallery until October 3, 2021.