Unsolved Mysteries

An exhibition opens with a free public reception at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 24, 2004 at the Alternator Gallery for Contemporary Art. Artist Renay Egami will give a free public lecture about her work at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2004. Exhibitions run to Oct. 30, 2004. Gallery hours: Tuesday to Sunday, Noon to 5 p.m. The gallery is located in the Rotary Centre for the Arts at 421 Cawston Ave. in Kelowna.

Artist Renay Egami creates an installation at Alternator Gallery for Contemporary Art. The work comprises a sculptural piece built into the main space and a video projection in the adjacent space. With a two-part work, Egami attempts to find resolution and express remembrance following the recent death of her father.

The artist‘s father was a gardener who kept up a well-manicured lawn and Japanese garden at their family home. His passing is conveyed through a lawn left untended which at the same time acts as a symbol of life continuing. The lawn is made from polyurethane rubber, through a laborious process of hand casting. The rubber is tinted a bright artificial green, transforming the lawn into a lush, jewel-like carpet.

As well a video projection shows an indentation in the shape of a head left on a pillow made of ice that slowly melts away. The video then cycles back and water freezes into ice, a poignant metaphor for life’s transience and cyclic nature.

Renay Egami holds a Masters of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has exhibited her work in Chicago, Montréal and Japan. Egami is a Fine Arts professor at Okanagan University College.