Madison Higginbotham's latest art exhibition is a tribute to the pockets of rhythm to be found in everyday life.
Rhythms shares moments and “little pieces of shared humanity” Higginbotham sees in the micro-cultures around her at home and when she travels. Her exhibition will be at the Old School House in Qualicum Beach from July 2 to Aug. 23.
“These pockets of rhythm are basically just little snippets of life that totally motivate me and reignite my soul," said Higginbotham, also known as 'Mads'. “When you go to the park and you see these like micro-communities, whether it’s kids playing soccer or there’s like generations of people playing chess together. It’s little pockets of rhythms like that I feel give me hope again.”
She sees these collective cultures and traditions as an antidote to the loneliness epidemic and the fear and divisions that cut across society, such as the recent protests about immigration and ICE in the U.S.
Rhythms includes several larger scale portraits, a ceramics piece and many mixed media works which include elements like collage in TOSH's DF Gallery.
Higginbotham hopes people will walk away from the show with an appreciation for all the different cultures that Canada is home to, as well as the importance of getting outside and interacting with people in person, rather than through a screen.
“I really want people to come to the show and find an appreciation for like these collectivist cultures that we see in North America, just because we’re such a melting pot and a tapestry of cultures,” she added.
When travelling, Higginbotham noticed people are out and about more, being social on a lunch break, for example, and having conversations.
In Canada, she finds it's easier to become isolated since so many things are done remotely, with people spending a lot of time staring at their phones.
“It kind of feels like a Black Mirror episode sometimes,” she said. “COVID obviously didn’t help with that and as things are becoming more digital and AI is becoming more and more of a thing, I think that is a totally valid fear to have. I feel like we need to go back to our roots and like what’s actually important — and that’s being together in these micro-communities.”
Higginbotham is a self-taught painter based in Vancouver. She grew up in a family that appreciated the arts and encouraged her to express her creativity from a young age.
She has been painting professionally for about three years, after a pivot following her completion of a Bachelor of Arts in Corporate Communications and a Graphic Design Certificate.
A lot of her paintings start with her photo, either taken by herself or someone she has permission from.
“Based on that, I’ll usually grab a canvas and start playing music based on like the person who I’ve either met or talked to, just like the overall vibe of the picture,” she added.
She will start off abstractly, scribbling or throwing paint, sometimes writing lyrics on the paper. Then she moves onto a sketch of her subject before getting into the details in "full paint mode".
TOSH is hosting two other exhibitions this summer: Still by Yvonne Vander Kooi and Blossoming by Jamie Gentry.
The arts centre is located at 122 Fern Rd. W.
