I Dreamed of an End to This - artist Karen Tamminga-Paton

Lebel Mansion Gallery, Pincher Creek, Alberta, Spring 2023

"This body of work documents the examination of my personal narratives. The degree to which I plumbed for clarity was unintended – who wants to invite such discomfort? But the pandemic offered me a generous amount of solitude to sit with myself as I painted, and in that way, was a gift.

Events, like the horrific death of George Floyd and so many other Black, Indigenous and people of colour, caught my attention like gut punches. Add to this the troublesome fraternization of religion and politics, along with cherished LGBTQ2S+ friends necessarily upending my ill-fitting theological narratives. Local land use issues asked me to self-educate and understand the implications of my own choices and informed what I needed to fight for. Provocative conversations seemed to take place when I felt most vulnerable and open. It was a matter of accumulative effects.

Global upheaval took hold of my inner world like a maelstrom. It is my nature to scrutinize things, but not to this extent. So began the unpacking of a trunk load of beliefs, traditions, habits, and assumptions that I didn’t even know I had. I am grateful for deep friendships where I can be vulnerable with thoughts-in-the-raw and even break into irreverent laughter. But it was not unlike removing layers of protective bubble wrap and exposing my uncalloused skin to the elements, and, as I said, who wants to do that when it’s cold and nasty out there?

 This body of work is incomplete, of course. It is my lifelong process. And some thoughts evade visual expression or are not meant to be shared with everyone. Yet all these pieces are deeply personal and are offered to you in trust. Even so, I believe these images are reflections of our complicated, contrary, and beautiful humanity, and perhaps they will be a catalyst for your own explorations, whatever that may look like."