Beaming

My recent work equally takes a look at the reality of our world and at the same time tries to find hope. The work often takes tragic and foreboding themes and finds beauty and optimism within it.

In Beaming the title suggests the subject of devolution of nature. The impending fear of natural catastrophe or disasters, the sun exploding on itself. Yet it is combining humour with tragedy, a dark humour that the sun is smiling back on us, knowing its own strength. Yet at the same time there is pleasing appearance to the work, it’s warm yet possibly menacing and at the same time, it has the last laugh and it’s beaming on us.

Mélanie Rocan’s artistic activities include having a survey exhibition organized by Ann MacDonald at the Doris McCarthy Gallery in Scarborough in 2012. Her work has also been included in numerous group exhibitions; Crossing Natures at Tom Thomson Gallery in Owen Sound in 2016; My Winnipeg, at La Maison Rouge, in Paris; and Carte Blanche painting survey at MOCCA Toronto in 2008.

She was a three-time semi-finalist in the RBC painting competition exhibition, which travelled to galleries across Canada including the Power Plant in Toronto, the Contemporary Museum in Montreal and the Contemporary Art Gallery of Vancouver. Her work has been reviewed in Border Crossings magazine, McClean’s magazine and the Globe and Mail. She is the recipient of numerous awards and grants from the Canada Council, Manitoba Arts Council and Winnipeg Arts Council.