Alli van Gruen is bound for New York City.
Not permanently, of course, but the longtime Whistlerite has jetted off to the Van Der Plas Gallery in Manhattan's Lower East Side. There, her work will be displayed between Sept. 13 and 22 as part of a special series titled All Art+: a recurring opportunity for up-and-comers and mid-career creatives to dip their feet into the unrivalled New York market.
These days, van Gruen has pivoted her attention back to painting the human figure—specifically her own. Such content will be her contribution to "The Seasons," the current theme of All Art+.
"As I get older, I'm just noticing that I'm drawn to paint images that are more highly personal to me," explains van Gruen. "I've been on this path for a while now. I have a lot of reference material in old family slides, and I'm naturally drawn to doing my interpretation of those moments in my family growing up. I'm [attracted] to nostalgia. It helps me to better understand myself and how I got to be where I am today."
The body of work to be shown in New York was inspired by a workshop on Cortes Island, she said.
“It involved learning about recreating a culture of collective thriving and creating new worlds where nobody's left behind,” she said. “There was a lot of movement, a lot of dance, and based on that experience I thought it would be cool to paint my body in motion. I strive to not be really tight and exact. I want to be more loose and expressive."
Saying yes to opportunity
van Gruen's friends and family know her as an expressive individual. She's always been that way, dating back to childhood in Toronto. Her strengths and personality traits naturally led her to a degree at the Ontario College of Art and Design, and she resided abroad in Florence, Italy during her final year of study.
It was an eye-opening time that helped her mature as a creator and as a person.
"It's always good to see what other people are doing," van Gruen says. "I find that the best art happens when artists work together, share ideas and are supportive of each other. Living in Florence for a year was an incredible, memorable foundation, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me that I've always cherished."
Having lived in Whistler for more than 30 years, van Gruen's career has ebbed and flowed with the competing demands of life and family. She is skilled in painting a mixture of landscapes, abstract themes and people using both acrylic and watercolour mediums. Arts Whistler has granted her numerous opportunities to showcase her portfolio, a fact for which she remains grateful.
"[Whistlerites] have always been very supportive, and Arts Whistler is a great supporter of the arts," van Gruen points out.
The Big Apple, with its winding traffic snakes and unceasing hustle and bustle, is a far cry from the Sea to Sky corridor in nearly every way. Yet it's also a globally-renowned hub of fine art where all kinds of people choose to reside, and that's a wonderful thing for any creatively-minded individual.
"I think it's just important to always say yes to these opportunities," remarks van Gruen. "You never know where something might lead. I'm pretty careful and quiet by nature, and so it's good for me to push myself and get out of my comfort zone in the big city. It's going to be very exciting."
Learn more about All Art+ and the Van Der Plas Gallery at vanderplasgallery.com/current.
