Outports, a solo exhibition of twelve new paintings by Carol Bajen-Gahm, was on view from March 18 to April 24, 2020, at Sivarulrasa Gallery.
In Newfoundland, the word “outport” originally referred to an isolated coastal community that could be reached only by boat, but today most are accessible by road. Rather than harvesting cod, most now depend on summer tourism for their existence. Loss of population due to the collapse of the fishery has caused some villages to be abandoned, while others survive with fewer than one hundred souls. Some, like Torbay, have grown due to their proximity to St. John’s.
Based in Torbay Bight, Newfoundland, artist Carol Bajen-Gahm lives surrounded by the awe of nature. “Living here is a constant reminder of the power of the sea and the wind; of ice and snow; of the very movement of the continents”, she notes. In her process, she creates dense abstract patterns by the printing and layering of found materials, using inks, oils, wax and other media. These materials could be seaweed, sand, fishnet, crop netting, barrel hoops, pitchfork tines, grasses, leaves, papers, or string. In three series of works, Torbay Bight, Thrust Toward Spring, and Root Cellar Meditations, she explores the primal landscape and surprising exuberance of her surroundings.
Read more on the Sivarulrasa Gallery website.