You say it’s your birthday, Outworks Art Gallery – well happy birthday to you!

Located in the heart of the Exchange District, the artist-run studio and exhibition space has showcased local art for the past five years. To celebrate its fifth anniversary, the artists involved at Outworks have put together a new exhibit showcasing the work of more than 10 artists who are either members or friends of the gallery. From the Ground Up opened on Mar. 6.

Preparation for the new exhibit was in full swing the Thursday afternoon before the show’s opening – the two artists on site, in traditional artistic fashion, were elbow deep in their work. Some of the artwork scheduled to appear in the show had yet to arrive “because the paint hasn’t dried yet.”

Outworks focuses on abstract art, and the majority – if not all – of the pieces in From the Ground Up shy away from the tangible into the surreal.

Karen Wardle, a landscape artist participating in the show, is presenting an untitled series of seven landscapes. They portray the footprint of civilization on the planet, particularly structural abandonment, followed by nature’s reclamation of the space once occupied by a train yard or a bottling plant.

Her abstract, surrealist pieces focus on the hope and growth emerging from the decaying leftovers of industrialization, and the return of simpler practices, like the sustainable, organic farming methods used before the age of factory farming – something she remembers from her childhood in rural Manitoba.

Clyde Finlay, a former justice department counsellor, draws on his years of “top-down management” and what can he called callousness inside the justice department for inspiration.

One of his more striking works, “The long arm of injustice,” is a vivid piece of work that expresses the absence of positive progress or debate within the justice system, leading to a viscous cycle of repeat offences and drug relapse. Finlay says his major qualm with the justice system is the lack of options available to rehabilitators.

“We were told what to do and how to do it. There was a lack of debate, and it was not encouraged by our superiors,” he said.

That sentiment is expressed in his piece “Enclosed in a nightmare.” Juxtaposing images and the use of architecture show a claustrophobic, cramped scene, a gated community with no ambiguity about which side one is on. The pen and ink used in the piece both divide and direct the painting, further accenting the struggle to remain part of a society one finds unjust.

Published in Volume 63, Number 23 of The Uniter (March 12, 2009)