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Fungi fascination blooms in Okanagan

Victoria artist’s mushroom art on display at Caetani Centre
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Roberta Pyx Sutherland presents her mycophilic art during an opening reception Friday, Nov. 8 in the Caetani Cultural Centre Studio Gallery. (Submitted Photo)

Vernon has sprouted the perfect pickings for a Victoria artist obsessed with mushrooms.

“I contracted a fascination and love of mushrooms in the final days of my first residency in 2017,” confesses Roberta Pyx Sutherland.

From her first solo show at the Victoria Art Gallery in the 1980s, her work has focused on the environment and the interconnectivity of all life forms.

“If you saw any of the work at my exhibition last year at Caetani you realized I had a severe case with fully blown symptoms! I’m inspired by the relationships of cosmic patterning and divine intelligence,” said Sutherland.

READ MORE: Caetani exhibit details Allan Brooks’ legacy

This art show deepens an exploration of mushroom spore printing she started last year, as an artist-in-residence at the Caetani Centre, but the weather in October 2018 was very different than the weather in October 2019.

“Despite the early frost, Caetani House and this beautiful season in Vernon have offered the opportunity to further research the hidden possibilities of inter-species collaborations.”

The mushrooms were harder to find, yet she pulled it off.

Sutherland is a contemporary Canadian artist who works from Victoria and Hornby Island.

Her work is represented in a number of public collections including the Canada Council for the Arts, Burnaby Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Toronto Public Library, University of British Columbia, Concordia University Library, and the Bibliothèque de Genève

Come meet Sutherland and experience her mycophilic art during the opening reception Friday, Nov. 8, 7 - 9 p.m., as well as during gallery hours Nov. 9 and Nov. 10 from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. and Nov. 11 from 1-3 p.m. in the Caetani Cultural Centre Studio Gallery.

Sutherland is the Caetani Cultural Centre’s self-directed Artist-in-Residence. The Caetani Centre’s Artist-in-Residence programs are available to artists working on creative projects anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months in length.

The artist stays and creates at the Caetani Cultural Centre and is invited to share workshops, readings and exhibitions with the North Okanagan community.

For more information visit https://www.caetani.org or contact the Caetani Centre at 250-275-1525.

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Jennifer Smith

About the Author: Jennifer Smith

Vernon has always been my home, and I've been working at The Morning Star since 2004.
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