HOLLY WINTERS: ARTIST STATEMENT
My subject matter is the narrative of my unconscious mind. I accomplish this by drawing a continuous line in ball point pen on paper (preferably on 18inx24in watercolour paper) which I then paint with acrylic paints straight from the tube with a dry brush or after mixing desired colours. Usually, I add a black outline to the finished painting to include the underlying ink drawing.
Though I have been working with unconscious imagery in paintings since 1990, the past two decades have had recurring motifs which I have interpreted as spiralling embryonic shapes and wing-like shapes that have also suggested to me of disembodied entities, or what I like to call ancestors. These combined motifs speak of my belief in life existing after death in a harmonious cycle. I like to include black in the background as a contrast to the vivid shapes in these narratives; it is the void of nothingness ever present with life.
I hope the preciousness of life, in all its forms, as represented by the embryo or zygote, will spur humanity to reflect on the grander scheme of life, and thus make more strides to protect what we have on this lovely planet called earth.
HOLLY WINTERS: ARTIST BIO - 2022
Holly Winters was born in 1964 and raised in a rural area outside of Liverpool, Nova Scotia.
Her earliest artistic memories were as a two-year-old drawing on the walls at home with a purple crayon. Then with a traumatic stay in the hospital, her only solace was a colouring book she called Goldie. Holly was deeply attached to this colouring book and it soon replaced the doll in her doll carriage at home. In later years, she wondered if her paintings featuring flat vivid colours outlined in black were influenced by this attachment to her colouring book.
Growing up, Holly was told by everyone that she would become an artist. When she was eight, she discovered a painting kit at home. She was hooked by the scent and texture of the oil paint. By 11, Holly was painting her own realistic works and then selling commissions at 13 years old. She continued selling as a self-taught artist throughout her high school years.
Holly attended Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick and graduated in 1987 with a B.F.A. Her first group show was at Owens Art Gallery in Sackville. The gallery decided to collect some of her student work as part of its mandate.
Throughout university, Holly had a fascination with psychological themes, and experimented with spontaneous painting in the dark, but she was not satisfied with the results. Then she moved to Toronto, and in 1988, she accidently developed automatic drawing. By 1990, she was painting and selling a few large canvases in a style she called abstract intuitive.
By 1991, she had moved to Vancouver where she continued painting then studied art therapy in the mid 1990’s. Tired of financial woes, Holly moved back to Nova Scotia in 1998, and lived in Halifax, continuing her art. During this time, she developed schizophrenia.
Though active in the local art community, she missed the Vancouver scenery and returned to Vancouver in 2000. A friend had her committed to hospital in 2002. Holly recovered quickly on medication, and she continued painting in her abstract intuitive style. By 2006, she was actively exhibiting in group shows at local venues and in art galleries by 2015.
The year 2016 was a highlight when she exhibited in group shows in Osaka and Kanazawa, Japan. Holly received an honorarium out of 1,700 participants from BiG-I Art Project that hosted the two events. In the following years of 2017 and 2018, Holly exhibited and sold work at the Vancouver Outsider Arts Festival. She continued in group shows in the Vancouver lower mainland and in Toronto through 2019 to 2023.
Her main goal in the future is to further her art career by exhibiting solo in domestic galleries, and possibly abroad.
HOLLY WINTERS
Canada
[email protected]
Education:
1987 - B.F.A., (major: painting, minor: photography)
Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB, Canada
Awards:
2015 - BiG-i Art Project, Honourable Mention
Osaka, Japan
1986 - Dean's List Scholarship
Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB, Canada
1983 - Berol Prismacolor Art Competition, Honourable Mention
Toronto, ON, Canada
1983 - Art Merit
Liverpool Regional High, Liverpool, NS, Canada
Painting Exhibitions:
2023 - Ben Artbox.Project, New York 2.0, Zug, Switzerland, (Projections of Art) - juried group show
2023 - Life's Movements, Silk Purse Arts Centre, West Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2022 - Painting 22/23, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada - juried virtual group show
2020 - Swiss Art Expo: Artbox.Project Zurich 2.0, Zug, Switzerland, (Projections of Art) - juried group show
2020 - Where Do We Land?, Leslie Grove Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada – juried group show
2020 - Together Alone, Fort Gallery, Fort Langley, Langley, BC, Canada - juried group show
2020 - Gay Gardens, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada - juried virtual group show
2020 - Longing & Belonging, Sidney & Gertrude Zack Gallery, J.C.C., Vancouver, BC, Canada - juried group show
2019 - Splendour of Canada, International Arts Gallery, Vancouv.er, BC, Canada - juried group show
2019 - Nordic Art, Scandinavian Community Centre, Burnaby, BC, Canada - group show
2018 - Vancouver Outsider Art Festival, Community Arts Council, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2018 - NYC Armory Show: Artbox.Project New York 1.0, Zug, Switzerland, (Projections of Art) - juried group show
2018 - Spectrum 50, Silk Purse Arts Centre, West Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2018 - VGH Art Show, Community Arts Council; VGH, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2018 - Year of the Dog, International Arts Gallery, Vancouver, BC, Canada - juried group show
2017 - SWITCH Event, Community Arts Council, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2017 - Art Show, BC Schizophrenic Society, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2017 - Boobies & Wieners, Hot Art Wet City, Gallery of BC Ceramics, (host), Vancouver, BC, Canada - juried group show
2017 - Vancouver Outsider Art Festival, Community Arts Council, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2017 - Nordic Art, Scandinavian Community Centre, Burnaby, BC, Canada - group show
2016 - Art Show, ‘POP-UP-TOWN’ Gallery, White Rock, BC, Canada - juried group show
2016 - BiG-i Art Project Show, BiG-i Art Project, Osaka, Japan - juried group show
2016 - BiG-i Art Project Show, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan - juried group show
2015 - David Suzuki Art Show, Hot Art Wet City Gallery, Vancouver, BC, Canada - juried group show
2015 - On-line Art Auction, CBABC’s Aboriginal Law Student Scholarship Trust, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2015 - Art Show, West End Mental Health Team, Vancouver, BC, Canada - solo show
2014 - On-line Art Auction, CBABC’s Aboriginal Law Student Scholarship Trust, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2013 - Lab Art Show, Vancouver, BC, Canada - juried group show
2013 - On-line Art Auction, CBABC’s Aboriginal Law Student Scholarship Trust, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2011 - Art Show, Coast Mental Health, Vancouver, BC, Canada - juried group show
2006 - Art Show, Vancouver Psychological Society, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
1999 - Art Auction, Paint the Town, Annapolis Royal Art Council, NS, Canada - group show
1998 - Art Auction, Paint the Town, Annapolis Royal Art Council, NS, Canada - group show
1992 - 1996 Art Show - Various cafes, Vancouver, BC, Canada - solo shows
1989 - Miniature Art (Del Bello Gallery) Metro Convention Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada - juried group show
1989 - International Miniature Art, Del Bello Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada - juried group show
1987 - Grad Show, Owens Art Gallery, Sackville, NB, Canada - juried group show
Painting Collections:
2019 - Fresh Street Market, West Vancouver, BC, Canada; mural
2000 - Nova Scotia Arts Council, Halifax, NS, Canada
1989 - Lee’s Palace, Toronto, ON, Canada; mural
1987 - Owens Art Gallery, Sackville, NB, Canada
1983 - Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NS, Canada
1978 - Current; private collections across Canada, USA, Iceland, Thailand and Switzerland
Painting Catalogue Publications:
2019 - Vancouver Arts Carnival “Splendour of Canada” Paintings Exhibition, Special Publication, June 2019, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2016 - BiG-i Art Collection, February 25, 2016, Edward M. Gomez, Osaka, Japan
My subject matter is the narrative of my unconscious mind. I accomplish this by drawing a continuous line in ball point pen on paper (preferably on 18inx24in watercolour paper) which I then paint with acrylic paints straight from the tube with a dry brush or after mixing desired colours. Usually, I add a black outline to the finished painting to include the underlying ink drawing.
Though I have been working with unconscious imagery in paintings since 1990, the past two decades have had recurring motifs which I have interpreted as spiralling embryonic shapes and wing-like shapes that have also suggested to me of disembodied entities, or what I like to call ancestors. These combined motifs speak of my belief in life existing after death in a harmonious cycle. I like to include black in the background as a contrast to the vivid shapes in these narratives; it is the void of nothingness ever present with life.
I hope the preciousness of life, in all its forms, as represented by the embryo or zygote, will spur humanity to reflect on the grander scheme of life, and thus make more strides to protect what we have on this lovely planet called earth.
HOLLY WINTERS: ARTIST BIO - 2022
Holly Winters was born in 1964 and raised in a rural area outside of Liverpool, Nova Scotia.
Her earliest artistic memories were as a two-year-old drawing on the walls at home with a purple crayon. Then with a traumatic stay in the hospital, her only solace was a colouring book she called Goldie. Holly was deeply attached to this colouring book and it soon replaced the doll in her doll carriage at home. In later years, she wondered if her paintings featuring flat vivid colours outlined in black were influenced by this attachment to her colouring book.
Growing up, Holly was told by everyone that she would become an artist. When she was eight, she discovered a painting kit at home. She was hooked by the scent and texture of the oil paint. By 11, Holly was painting her own realistic works and then selling commissions at 13 years old. She continued selling as a self-taught artist throughout her high school years.
Holly attended Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick and graduated in 1987 with a B.F.A. Her first group show was at Owens Art Gallery in Sackville. The gallery decided to collect some of her student work as part of its mandate.
Throughout university, Holly had a fascination with psychological themes, and experimented with spontaneous painting in the dark, but she was not satisfied with the results. Then she moved to Toronto, and in 1988, she accidently developed automatic drawing. By 1990, she was painting and selling a few large canvases in a style she called abstract intuitive.
By 1991, she had moved to Vancouver where she continued painting then studied art therapy in the mid 1990’s. Tired of financial woes, Holly moved back to Nova Scotia in 1998, and lived in Halifax, continuing her art. During this time, she developed schizophrenia.
Though active in the local art community, she missed the Vancouver scenery and returned to Vancouver in 2000. A friend had her committed to hospital in 2002. Holly recovered quickly on medication, and she continued painting in her abstract intuitive style. By 2006, she was actively exhibiting in group shows at local venues and in art galleries by 2015.
The year 2016 was a highlight when she exhibited in group shows in Osaka and Kanazawa, Japan. Holly received an honorarium out of 1,700 participants from BiG-I Art Project that hosted the two events. In the following years of 2017 and 2018, Holly exhibited and sold work at the Vancouver Outsider Arts Festival. She continued in group shows in the Vancouver lower mainland and in Toronto through 2019 to 2023.
Her main goal in the future is to further her art career by exhibiting solo in domestic galleries, and possibly abroad.
HOLLY WINTERS
Canada
[email protected]
Education:
1987 - B.F.A., (major: painting, minor: photography)
Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB, Canada
Awards:
2015 - BiG-i Art Project, Honourable Mention
Osaka, Japan
1986 - Dean's List Scholarship
Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB, Canada
1983 - Berol Prismacolor Art Competition, Honourable Mention
Toronto, ON, Canada
1983 - Art Merit
Liverpool Regional High, Liverpool, NS, Canada
Painting Exhibitions:
2023 - Ben Artbox.Project, New York 2.0, Zug, Switzerland, (Projections of Art) - juried group show
2023 - Life's Movements, Silk Purse Arts Centre, West Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2022 - Painting 22/23, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada - juried virtual group show
2020 - Swiss Art Expo: Artbox.Project Zurich 2.0, Zug, Switzerland, (Projections of Art) - juried group show
2020 - Where Do We Land?, Leslie Grove Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada – juried group show
2020 - Together Alone, Fort Gallery, Fort Langley, Langley, BC, Canada - juried group show
2020 - Gay Gardens, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada - juried virtual group show
2020 - Longing & Belonging, Sidney & Gertrude Zack Gallery, J.C.C., Vancouver, BC, Canada - juried group show
2019 - Splendour of Canada, International Arts Gallery, Vancouv.er, BC, Canada - juried group show
2019 - Nordic Art, Scandinavian Community Centre, Burnaby, BC, Canada - group show
2018 - Vancouver Outsider Art Festival, Community Arts Council, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2018 - NYC Armory Show: Artbox.Project New York 1.0, Zug, Switzerland, (Projections of Art) - juried group show
2018 - Spectrum 50, Silk Purse Arts Centre, West Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2018 - VGH Art Show, Community Arts Council; VGH, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2018 - Year of the Dog, International Arts Gallery, Vancouver, BC, Canada - juried group show
2017 - SWITCH Event, Community Arts Council, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2017 - Art Show, BC Schizophrenic Society, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2017 - Boobies & Wieners, Hot Art Wet City, Gallery of BC Ceramics, (host), Vancouver, BC, Canada - juried group show
2017 - Vancouver Outsider Art Festival, Community Arts Council, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2017 - Nordic Art, Scandinavian Community Centre, Burnaby, BC, Canada - group show
2016 - Art Show, ‘POP-UP-TOWN’ Gallery, White Rock, BC, Canada - juried group show
2016 - BiG-i Art Project Show, BiG-i Art Project, Osaka, Japan - juried group show
2016 - BiG-i Art Project Show, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan - juried group show
2015 - David Suzuki Art Show, Hot Art Wet City Gallery, Vancouver, BC, Canada - juried group show
2015 - On-line Art Auction, CBABC’s Aboriginal Law Student Scholarship Trust, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2015 - Art Show, West End Mental Health Team, Vancouver, BC, Canada - solo show
2014 - On-line Art Auction, CBABC’s Aboriginal Law Student Scholarship Trust, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2013 - Lab Art Show, Vancouver, BC, Canada - juried group show
2013 - On-line Art Auction, CBABC’s Aboriginal Law Student Scholarship Trust, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
2011 - Art Show, Coast Mental Health, Vancouver, BC, Canada - juried group show
2006 - Art Show, Vancouver Psychological Society, Vancouver, BC, Canada - group show
1999 - Art Auction, Paint the Town, Annapolis Royal Art Council, NS, Canada - group show
1998 - Art Auction, Paint the Town, Annapolis Royal Art Council, NS, Canada - group show
1992 - 1996 Art Show - Various cafes, Vancouver, BC, Canada - solo shows
1989 - Miniature Art (Del Bello Gallery) Metro Convention Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada - juried group show
1989 - International Miniature Art, Del Bello Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada - juried group show
1987 - Grad Show, Owens Art Gallery, Sackville, NB, Canada - juried group show
Painting Collections:
2019 - Fresh Street Market, West Vancouver, BC, Canada; mural
2000 - Nova Scotia Arts Council, Halifax, NS, Canada
1989 - Lee’s Palace, Toronto, ON, Canada; mural
1987 - Owens Art Gallery, Sackville, NB, Canada
1983 - Liverpool High School, Liverpool, NS, Canada
1978 - Current; private collections across Canada, USA, Iceland, Thailand and Switzerland
Painting Catalogue Publications:
2019 - Vancouver Arts Carnival “Splendour of Canada” Paintings Exhibition, Special Publication, June 2019, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2016 - BiG-i Art Collection, February 25, 2016, Edward M. Gomez, Osaka, Japan