Drawing Monsters with Jim Holyoak

Jim Holyoak is a Nelson-based artist with a national and international career. The Kootenay Gallery of Art in Castlegar is fortunate to welcome Holyoak in an exhibition called Vestigial Trail that will run from June 23rd until August 20th. This exhibition will feature works collected during Holyoak’s travels, as well as new works reflecting the shapes of the monstrous today as it relates to our lives in the Kootenays. 

We all know monsters as the stuff of popular culture – vampires, zombies and the like. But here in BC’s interior, the mountains, when blanketed in cloud or snow, in darkness or in smoke, can transform into unknown beings looming over the valleys at their feet. For millennia, Indigenous people and now settlers have shared this place with grizzlies and cougars, with whispers of Sasquatch stalking the forests and giant serpents swimming in the depths of lakes. Forest fires have always existed but recently they have taken on a new bestial life, swallowing whole villages and mountainsides. People retreat indoors from the fire to find the invisible monster known as COVID sneaking upon us in our workplaces, our schools and our homes. Holyoak’s drawings examine both the mountains and the monsters we live with.

We will try a variety of monster-drawing exercises using pencils and wax crayons. Participants of all ages and skill levels are welcome.

Register through Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/344883083587