Denise Tierney presents
Recollection
At the Chapel Gallery St Matthias, May 6-15, 2022.
Opening May 6, 6:00-8:00. Artist talk at 6:30. 
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Detail: Blue Shawl by Denise Tierney, diptych, oil on cradled wood panel, 40x24 in, 2021

​Denise Tierney’s career as a professional artist spans several years. She works from Pentimenti Art Studio, in downtown Nanaimo. The word “pentimenti” refers to “the presence of earlier images that have been painted over” and hints at the artist’s process. “I use layers of subject matter and materials to tell my stories,” she says. “Multiple coats add a sense of mystery and visual tension to the artwork." The award-winning artist experiments with various media including clay, wood, metal, paint and print-making. Recollection focuses on her oil paintings and features over 15 original works.

​Tierney holds a BA in Visual Art and a Diploma in Visual Art (both with distinction) from Vancouver Island University. The artist organized and participated in several group shows in Nanaimo, as well as an artist residency. Now expanding into new locales, Tierney is pleased to present Recollection, her first solo show, at the Chapel Gallery in Victoria. “The Chapel Gallery is a beautiful space,” she says, “and I look forward to greeting visitors at the opening and during gallery hours.”

Baba in Lawn Chair, oil on cradled wood panel, 20x20 in, 2021

Party Hats 5, oil on cradled wood panel, 16x16 in, 2021

Artists throughout history have used the human figure to explore social, political and religious themes. Tierney continues this tradition in Recollection, placing people in various settings to query how we forge personal and social bonds. The series delves into the nature of memory, both personal and collective. The artworks step back in time to record the rituals and traditions that bind us together and further societal norms. They consider the transience of life and how we mark and celebrate our passages.

Tierney cites Party Hats 5 as an good example of an annual ritual that gives form and structure to our transitions. The painting shows a lively birthday party with five well-dressed children. Their clothing, hair styles and polite demeanour suggest the 1950’s. It’s a cheerful scene, but the artist eschews sentimentality by using expressive mark-making on the children’s faces. Vibrant streaks of colour alter the facial structures of all five children. The features of three of the children appear slightly clownish and surreal. One small face glows ghoulishly green. “I put the paint on with a palette knife,” she explains. “To keep a painting interesting, I will go back and forth between loose and tight brushwork.”
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Acknowlegement, diptych, oil on cradled wood panel, 34x24 in, 2021

Cinq à sept, diptych, oil on cradled wood panel, 34x24 in, 2021

Tierney often uses mathematical models and theories in the planning and execution of paintings. She strives for visual balance using the Golden Ratio (1.6). The Golden Ratio appears to be at work in Cinq à sept, which is a diptych. Instead of splitting the canvas in two, she has placed the split to the right of centre nearing the 1.6 Golden Ratio.
​Numbers also play an interesting part in the title of the oil painting. Cinq à sept is a colloquial French term used to describe an extra-marital affair. Cinq à sept translates as “five to seven”, the hours when lovers may meet before heading home to their separate lives. Tierney sets the scene with a woman freshly-showered and an office worker making arrangements on the phone. Notice the vintage props of telephone, wall-paper, furniture and wallpaper, all 1950’s.
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House Purse, oil on canvas, 16x40 in, 2021

Ethel Bell, oil on canvas, 10x20 in, 2021

Tierney’s painting House Purse was inspired by a famous painting by Helen Parsons Shepherd called Sunday Church. Sunday Church features a senior resident of Newfoundland on her way to worship. Tierney was much moved by the sensitivity shown in the detailed portrait. “I looked at that painting for a long time,” she says. “I saw something there for me to mine, and use in my own work.” House Purse was loosely based on her own grandmother’s artistic creation. For the painting, Tierney researched clothing and hair styles from the 1940’s, then used intuition to fill in the gaps. She used her own hands as models in House Purse.

Tierney usually works from photos she collects at antique and second-hand stores. “I look for photos that speak to me in some way,” she says. In Ethel Bell, we view an anonymous woman gazing timorously towards her partner. The female has a ghosted facial expression and amorphous body boundary. Her male partner appears more stalwart and clearly-defined with his tailored suit and direct expression. The bold red line that accents his right side solidifies his central position in the two-person painting. In the future, Tierney plans to do a series of “women-looking-at-men”, which would offer an interesting social commentary on male/female relationships, both subtle and obvious.
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Brown Betty, oil on cradled wood panel, 12x16 in, 2021

Fever Dream, oil on canvas, 16x24 in, 2021

Blue Shawl, diptych, oil on cradled wood panel, 40x24 in, 2021

Wedding Gift, oil on cradled wood panel, 11.5x13.5 in, 2021

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​Each of Denise Tierney’s paintings tells a unique story that she is happy to share. This webpage has only touched on a few. Make sure to visit the artist at Chapel Gallery to learn more about her ideas, inspirations and artistic process.

Visit Denise at the Chapel Gallery weekends until May 15. 
Location: 600 Richmond Avenue, Victoria, V8S 3Y7 
Hours: Friday & Sat 12:00-4:00, Sun 12:00-3:00

Denise welcomes your interest and can by reached at:
[email protected]
View other select paintings by Denise at the newly-opened Gallery Merrick on Government Street in Victoria.

Visit Denise’s website HERE

The Opening of Recollection was well-attended and the audience was well-informed by the Denise's delightful talk.
Visit Denise on weekends at the Chapel Gallery until May 15. Below are photos of the Opening and Chapel interior. 

​​​​​​Web Design and Content by Kate Cino
Arts writer published in Focus on Victoria, Yam and Boulevard. 
History in Art degree and Public Relations certificate from 
​the University of Victoria
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