Hashimoto Contemporary presents Pathetic Fallacy, a solo exhibition by Toronto-based artist Sarah Joncas. In her inaugural exhibition with the gallery, Joncas plucks elements from nature and abstract forms to illustrate characters and emotion in her figures. Details like butterflies, tentacled creatures, sailboats and ruffled foliage, mingle and enhance the figures to create mystical landscapes.
‘Pathetic fallacy' describes, by definition, the attribution of human feelings and responses to animals or inanimate objects in art and literature. For her latest body of work, Joncas created a series of twenty-one new portraits, primarily in oil and acrylic paint, to delve into the device of pathetic fallacy. Meticulously rendered figures bathe in light, their skin reflecting a bright, almost translucent quality. Flowers adorn nymph-like figures wearing delicate embellishments as tousled locks cascade over bare shoulders. Captivating faces dreamily stare off into the distance, wandering and wondering.
In merging abstract form with familiar forms, the surreal with the familiar, Joncas invites the viewer to pause and perceive the deeper meaning and messages behind each work. Like the figures she plants, we get a chance to lose ourselves in their wondrous world.
Please join us Saturday, August 3rd from 6 pm - 8 pm for the opening reception of Pathetic Fallacy. The artist will be in attendance. The exhibition will be on view through Saturday, August 24th.
