LESLEY FINLAYSON

EUPHORIA (2023)

Late in the fall of 2022 I spent four days at a secluded cabin at the north end of Galiano Island in BC. I was there to have dedicated time for looking, walking, exploring, dreaming and being immersed in the huge landscapes of that location. It was peaceful, the weather was perfect, and at the point in the year when we think summer is dying for another year, there seemed to be a final burst of life. I picked up on this energy and proceeded to draw and paint, immersed in shifting light and space, feeling and hearing the autumnal breezes through the trees, engaging in the translation of what was all around me onto paper and canvas, and being absorbed into the euphoric energy of the place.

This work carried on in my studio after returning to the studio, where that energy was revisited in the actions of painting: mixing colours, mark-making, remembering, editing, emphasizing, shifting composition, concentrating, focusing and recapturing the sense of euphoria experienced on Galiano into the paintings comprising this body of work.

I hope viewers respond in turn to my sense of these spectacular landscapes and to our fragile relationship to them.