Kardosh Contemporary at the Marion Scott Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new works by Vicky Marshall. Opening September 13 and continuing through October 6, Vicky Marshall: Forest broken down will comprise 25 exuberant paintings and works on paper in the artist’s first show in Vancouver in three years.

An opening reception will be held in the gallery on Thursday, September 13 from 7 to 9 pm.

Known for her distinctive expressionistic technique and subjects drawn from everyday life, Vicky Marshall is one of Vancouver’s most recognized painters. In this new series of oil paintings on canvas and multi-media works on paper, Marshall revisits a theme that has held her interest at various points throughout her artistic career: the British Columbia landscape. Produced over the course of one year, the new works in Forest broken down analyze the coastal forest floor, translating its seasonal forms into structured compositions at the border between attentive representation and expressive abstraction.

Marshall notes of these works that they are concerned most with “the effects of filtered light coming down through the forest canopy.” Taking as their subject the logs, stumps, boulders and living tree growth that typify BC’s forest interiors, Marshall’s images engage with modernist painting traditions, turning the classic Canadian landscape idiom into a vehicle for contemporary formal exploration. At the same time, Marshall’s imagery offers a reflection on the impact that humans have on the landscape, acknowledging nature’s fragility in the face of destructive practices while simultaneously celebrating its extraordinary resilience.

Born in 1952 in Sheffield, England, Vicky Marshall immigrated to Canada in 1966. Following her graduation from The Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art and Design) in 1978, Marshall rose to local and national prominence with her bold series of paintings based on scenes taken from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Heralded as one of Vancouver’s most exciting new painters, in 1985 Marshall’s work was featured in The Young Romantics, the Vancouver Art Gallery’s influential show of neo-expressionistic work that also included the works of Attila Richard Lukacs, Graham Gillmore and others. Long considered an artist in the expressionist tradition, Marshall’s work is characterized by energetic brushwork and a deep engagement with the visceral textures of paint. Marshall currently lives in Sechelt on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast.