Glen MacKinnon

March 12 - April 7, 2010

Working with an industrial material as his trademark medium, Glen MacKinnon reveals the nature of plywood through gouging forms into its painted surface.  The resulting relief reveals man-made layers of pressed board and an organic contrast to the opaque red, white, and black surfaces otherwise masking its external appearance.  Influenced both by atmospheric conditions and the world as mediated by human involvement, MacKinnon creates semblances of star-dotted night skies and highway-etched grounds through a process of removal.  Says the artist:

“The material, baltic birch plywood, offers possibilities for both sculpture and image. When sanded, gouged or otherwise carved, its layers reveal lines that describe the topography of the removal.  I associate this process with drawing.”

Alberta-born artist, Glen MacKinnon, graduated from NSCAD University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1983, and has been teaching at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, since 1998.  His work is held in many important collections including: the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Art Bank, the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and Osler Hoskins, and Harcourt, in Toronto, Ontario.