October 7 – 28, 2023

Exhibition Opening:
12 – 2pm, October 7, 2023

Artist Statement

This series helps to represent a small amount of what people in the LGBT spectrum can look like. While also focusing and starting the conversation that gender and sexuality are not mutually exclusive. The fact that anyone can walk through this show and assume each person’s gender and sexuality based on the representation of the portraits. The question is though, would you walking through, be right? How would you know? I have helped guide this conversation through the representation of stereotypical gender norms on the respective and opposite genders with a variety of androyginous representations to start to blur that line. Each artwork is unique to themselves. They are all equal in the way that they are all the same size and painting style, which is a more realistic portrait approach with things like the shirt being flat, showing it as more of a placeholder. This also allows the viewer to focus on the conversation at hand. They also all have some sort of 3D aspect to them with a clear vibrant background with each having their own colours so they can pop and be instantly distiquesd as their own person and piece of work. 

Artist Bio:

Samantha Wigglesworth is a local BC Canadian Artist who grew up in Fort St John. Samantha started practicing art from a young age, starting by getting oil painting lessons from a local Bob Ross instructor from age 9-16. After graduation Samantha moved down to Chilliwack to attend UFV to get her Bachelor Degree of Fine Arts. This was a truly eye opening time, getting to see a different perspective than her conservative home town. There she focused on her studies until Covid hit which forced her to move back to her hometown and continue her studies online. Though she is making the best out of her situation having solo and group exhibitions in her local Gallery and even the next towns over. Now she has returned to Abbotsford to finish her studies and pursue her arts career permanently in the Fraser Valley. 

Find Samantha online:

Website: https://samanthawigglesworth.wordpress.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wiggiestudio/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samantha.wigglesworth.37