April Cooke-Mackey
April Mackey's pieces are the visual representation of the undiscovered country of a personal afterlife. In oils she shares images that blend together existing places of home with the landscapes of a world seen with closed eyes, painted in a surreal colour palette.
April Cooke-Mackey is a Salt Spring Island-born and raised visual artist. Her academic background includes a three-year Fine Arts Diploma Program from The Victoria College of Art, followed by continuing studies at The Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver BC.
Though her range in subject matter can vary widely from still life, figurative, portraits, and more recently landscapes, Mackey's work is grounded in her foundational drawing skills and instinctual use of colour. She has explored colour in a host of different mediums such as acrylic, watercolour, and pencil crayon, though she currently works primarily in oil paints.
Returning home to Salt Spring Island in 2021 has allowed Mackey the opportunity to renew connections with friends and family, in addition to devoting herself more passionately to her art.
The works included in this show are the attempt at an undiscovered style of painting. They are the experimentation and discovery of unfamiliar movements, techniques, and the attempt at finding comfort and confidence in something horrendously daunting and new.