FROM HERE: HEATHER JOHNSTON AND LAURA WALLACE

Exploring local imagery, ‘FROM HERE: Heather Johnston and Laura Wallace’ combines graphic black and white photographic images of Metro Vancouver alongside large scale colourful screen-printed images in an exhibition that will provoke conversation among long-time residents and visitors alike.

Artist Laura Wallace’s screen-printed works act as ‘markers of place,’ taking inspiration from iconic neighbourhood signage as well as dramatic local landscape and weather. Transferred onto canvas with added layers of distress, photographer Heather Johnston’s modern-day photographs of local scenes capture the character and rich history in the city’s buildings and streets.

Vancouver-born photographer Heather Johnston has a special relationship to this area which is informed both by her own experiences as well as stories her mother and father shared. Her parents met during World War II and their relationship blossomed here; they enjoyed walking together in romantic Stanley Park, admired the Sylvia Hotel, and frequented Granville Street. When Johnston returned to Vancouver after living in England, where she earned a master’s degree in photography at the Royal College of Art in London, she was again drawn to these and other iconic local places, and her Vancouver Collection seeks to reflect the city’s history and ‘soul.’

Laura Wallace was born in Winnipeg, but has spent most of her life in Vancouver. She completed what was then called the Capilano Commercial Art program and has since worked in design, advertising, and illustration. Her focus now turned to printmaking, Wallace appreciates the medium because it allows room for both intent and accident.

Artist Talks: Sunday September 4, 2 p.m