SLAF_Program Guide 2023

S E P T E M B E R 8 • 9 • 10 2 0 2 3 Saint Loui s Art Fair Storm ©TanyaKirouac Storm Artist: Tanya Kirouac Booth #522 About Tanya Kirouac is an abstract artist born and raised inMontreal, Canada. She currently lives in Northern Illinois. Tanya spent the early part of her career in art direction and graphic design, then in 2002 she shifted to the full-time creation of fine art. She is inspired by nature, stillness, and the memories of places visited long ago. Her work is experiential and derived from her love of the simple beauty found in everyday life. Inspiration Consisting of abstract paintings and bold, vibrant landscapes, Tanya’s vividly colorful and dreamlike landscape paintings carefully balance negative space with bright oil paints and encaustics. She creates images reminiscent of reflections on a rippling pond or light filtering through the leaves of trees. Her subjects are abstract images that emerge from lingering memories and impressions of places experienced or imagined. Tanya collects images in her archive which she later goes back to and draws upon for inspiration. The serene energy of her images exposes her connection to her environment and history, and invites her viewers to reflect on their own experiences. Process Tanya’s work is created using either encaustic or cold wax. Her cold wax pieces are created using a combination of oil paint and soft wax. Cold wax is soft and pliable and requires no heat to work with. Her encaustic pieces are created using hot wax mixed with pigments. Recently, she has worked primarily with oil after moving her workspace to her home studio during the Covid pandemic. Her painting process involves building up layers of paint, then removing them over and over. Finally, she scrapes and carves away areas of color to reveal their underlying story. The marks left from carving away layers of paint create repeating patterns of line and form (like the peeling bark of a tree) which give her work a textured appearance. Tanya’s work is moody yet oddly familiar and will draw you in to lead you meandering off into the distance. Kirouac’s work can be found in collections throughout the world. 2023 COMMEMORATIVE PRINT ARTIST The Commemorative Print will be for sale at the Pop-Up Shop at the intersection of Central and Forsyth. 2