440 10th street east, littlebean, ty

The second (little bean) is three separate wood panels found in a back alley painted with a mix of spray paint, acrylics, and oil pastels.

The third painting is on a single partical board also painted with a mixture of spray paint, acrylics and oil pastels.

 

seeing inside

 

Painted on canvas mixture of acrylics, spray paint, and oil pastels.

“I was very absorbed with strong features in women’s faces. At this point I began working with themes that continued on throughout my works, that of the brain and double eyes.”

masked intentions

 

Another painted on a found object,  spray paint and acrylics on linoleum.

“after being so obsessed with painting portraits I began to dwell on covering the face with a mask.  I was thinking about my frustrations with not being able to portray what I wanted to and began to incorporate masks as a way to speak to the tendency that people have of wanting others  to see as they see themselves or as they would like to see themselves.”

shadowed

 

 

we are walrus

 

Earlier works painted on canvas,  with acrylics.

“I have always been fascinated with double images and began to explore the fascinations with the walrus. In drips and natural drying of the paint I recognized a cityscape and developed it as part of the image.”

Kristy Koopmann was born in Flin Flon Manitoba to a German father, Kai, and Cree Nation mother, Kathleen. Growing up in Manitoba Kristy struggled with cultural repression of being raised in a society where her native heritage was not appreciated nor celebrated. The stifling of native beliefs and culture mixed with the boundaries that native peoples are most commonly affected by stimulated a strong will and drive in Kristy to express the pain and love that she felt for her people. Her images represent the struggles of her family and their overwhelming spirit that enables them to overcome the stereotypes that are placed upon them. A fierce love for her family and an intensely creative spirit are the live force behind her painting and photography. Kristy wants her work to be a guiding light for native youth, a beacon of hope that empowers them to believe that they can take control of their lives and can make it into whatever they want it to be. Kristy now works out of Vancouver and feels it is her mission to eventually take her works back to her roots and be able to expose her community directly to her art. This show, Inside Out, is her first exhibition and is a collection of her body of work over the last 2 years

“this is my favorite painting that I have done. It was interesting working on it because it was one of the few works that I did with the purpose of putting it in this show. If felt that with this work I was done second guessing my choices as an artist and felt as I was growing into myself as a creative being. The process I went through was completely organic, without needing to rework the piece repeatedly. I feel as if I had mastered not only my skills but also the paints that I was using.”