Gina Sarro

Landscape painter Gina Sarro captures the vast Canadian landscape with her distinct technique, painting skies, mountains, water and fields evoking both flatness and depth. Inspiration from homes in Saskatchewan, where she was born, and the Alberta foothills, where she completed an Economics degree at the University of Calgary and studied painting at Alberta College of Art and Design, strongly influence her work. Gina attended the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, where she currently resides. Her paintings are held in private and corporate collections in Canada, the US and Australia. A donated 13’ triptych graces the Jim Pattison corridor at Vancouver General Hospital.

Using both a brush and knife, partly to diminish, and partly to layer the paint itself, Gina balances strong compositional horizontals with rhythmic vertical gestures. Abstracted marks of color come together to create a serene, reminiscent composition which may be suddenly interrupted by defined saturated lines of color cutting vertically through it. This unexpected bisection of the landscape entices the viewer to look a little closer, searching to understand their meaning and what Gina is trying to say with her paint; a moment of pause and reflection.

Artist Statement:

I am continually searching for ways to capture the vast, serene landscape, focussing on simplicity and calm. My intention is to offer an abstracted landscape sanctuary where we can go to breathe and be still during these complicated times. Through a distinct technique, skies, mountains, lakes and fields evoke both flatness and depth. I use both a brush and knife, partly to diminish, and partly to layer the paint itself, balancing strong compositional horizontals with rhythmic vertical gestures.

Painting the landscape allows me to retrieve memories from time spent in the natural environment, and then reinterpret and restructure these inspirations. My paintings portray nonexistent spaces, representing a collection of influences and experiences. While painting, I am simultaneously searching for how to document our shared life experiences by looking at my own internal landscape and sourcing its connection to our shared human spirit. I hope my paintings give us pause; a moment with both the world and our inner selves, to share in my journey of refined seeing into both.

View her previous work here.

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