Unexpected Beginnings: Art Showcase of Dr. Spencer J. Harrison
The Trent University Alumni Association is pleased to host Unexpected Beginnings, featuring Spencer J. Harrison ’97. Explore the virtual gallery and experience an exhibition painted during the pandemic which focuses on his want to not look away from what is going on, but towards the beauty he still sees in the world and those around him; the heartfelt sensations he has continued to feel; and the moments of the last 18 months that have been the pinnacles both negative and positive. All pieces in this exhibition are available for purchase through the artist.
Unexpected Beginnings Virtual Art Gallery
Tuesday, August 24th – Tuesday, September 7th, 2021
Gallery to go live at 5:00 p.m. on August 24th and close at 5:00 p.m. on
September 7th
Explore Unexpected Beginnings gallery virtually. All pieces in this exhibition are available for purchase through the artist directly. Instructions on how to purchase a piece can be found in the gallery. Works sold will be marked as such at the end of each day of the exhibition.
Enter the Virtual Art Gallery
Unexpected Beginnings: Opening Night, “Meet the Artist”
Tuesday, August 24th, 2021 | 7:00 p.m.
Meet the artist behind Unexpected Beginnings. Joined by Fynn Lietch, Curator of the Art Gallery of Peterborough and Dorothea Hines ’14, Spencer will be answering your questions live.
Register for Opening Night, "Meet the Artist",
Unexpected Beginnings: Artist Talk, Behind the Inspiration
Tuesday, August 31st, 2021 | 7:00 p.m.
Learn more about Dr. Harrison’s creative process by joining our Artist Talk, Behind the Inspiration where Lori Meeboer ‘89 will join Spencer in a conversation about what it takes to create a work of art during a global pandemic.
Register for Artist Talk, Behind the Inspiration
Unexpected Beginnings, by Spencer J. Harrison ’97
A message from Spencer:
“This is an exhibition painted during the pandemic which focuses on my want to not look away from what is going on, but towards the beauty I still see in the world and those around me; the heartfelt sensations I have continued to feel; and the moments of the last 18 months that have been the pinnacles both negative and positive.
Utilizing an image which is common to my paintings of an antiquated canoe in an imagined, emotional water or landscape, as a metaphor for those around me in the world, I provide a viewer with the variety of emotions I have been navigating. The canoe is a metaphor for the figure, having ribs and acting as a container for emotions. Like us they take up space and displace the environment around them, leaving reflections, memories, or spaces for contemplation. In some, it is the space around the vessel which is most telling. For others the inside of the vessel is articulated to draw attention to those more interior feelings we carry. And for others, it is the impressions left behind in the reflections which are most significant. The vessels are always empty inviting the viewer to enter the work and experience the beauty which surrounds them.
The water or landscapes are built up with layers and layers of transparencies of colour creating the space the vessels inhabit. Technically referred to as glazing, the viewer looks through these thin washes of colour which create the illusion of three-dimensional space; however, traces of the painting process exist as means of breaking these illusions, reminding the viewer that these are direct communications between us.
At first the paintings are quite clear: boats in invented landscapes. However, if the viewer spends a little more time with each painting they will start to see and explore the complex codes of painting they are examining. This is an invitation into the moments and emotions which have prompted the works to be made. Even in the darker or more somber works there is always light. Sometimes it is the viewer whose light is the source in the work. I hope these paintings will remind viewers to search for the positive and beauty in the world which can pull us through.”