Artist makes a statement at Art Speak Gallery

by Shelbey Hernandez

A local artist is hoping her recent exhibit, Urgency for Metanoia, will make people more aware of the struggles women face with gender role stereotypes.

Amy Thomson, 21, presented her art work at the Art Speak Gallery Feb. 7. This was her first solo art exhibit, which she said she considered successful because there were 100 people present. The goal of her exhibit was to reveal the pain women experience when given strict gender identities. All 12 art pieces at her exhibit were for sale.

Thomson has been involved in art since she was a child. When she attended Walkerville Collegiate Institute, she said the advanced visual arts program there allowed her to further expand her knowledge of art. In her program, she and her classmates were able to display their art at Art in the Park. They also did a 24-hour art project in which the students would sleep at the school and for 24 hours, work on their art pieces. She is currently in the fine visual arts program at the University of Windsor.

Thomson said painting the art work displayed in her exhibit allowed her to express her emotions in a constructive way.

“Amy’s theme for her work is very personal to her and exactly as the title of her show Urgency for Metanoia portrays, I feel it became a therapeutic release for her,” said Erika DuChene, another visual arts student at the university. “Her work is something that everyone can appreciate.”

As for the other art pieces, the local artist said she wanted to allow women to feel comfortable in whatever gender identity they chose. She said the derogatory terms used to describe women, like  “bitch”, “slut”, or “butch”, are a problem in society.

“From the art itself, I got the impression that they were about transformation and acceptance,” said Manraj Aujla, a friend of the artist. “While women were always the focus of the art, they didn’t completely force themselves on the rest of the painting. So they coexisted with their environment, which I guess you could say shows how women ought to carve out their own gender roles and create a lifestyle that is comfortable for them.”

In the summer, Thomson said she hopes to have another art exhibit with the same theme and more pieces. Other artists in her program will be hosting their own exhibits in the future.