“Each image looms out from [the] background; renderings of shaggy equines that evoke emotion rather than offer depiction, and which wander into the abstract.”
- Dina O'Meara, Galleries West Magazine, Spring 2006
Up and coming artist Terra McDonald’s large scale mixed-media paintings are an exploration of horses as an icon of the Alberta cultural landscape. Using water-based media such as inks, gesso and acrylic, McDonald builds up surfaces that are rich and subtly layered. Steeped in the tradition of drawing she uses brushes, her hands and other tools, to employ a wide range of mark-making to create mass and luxuriant painted surfaces. McDonald’s skillful use of negative space results in paintings, which are as much about memory and the experience of horses as they are about capturing those surfaces and volume.
McDonald’s paintings utilize a human scale to reinforce that physical experience. They capture in visual form the multi-sensory experience of being in close proximity of a horse - the memory of touch and the sheer physical presence of these majestic animals. The depicted horses’ body dwarf the viewer, reminding us of their bulk and physical power, while evoking a sense of awe. Her paintings are gestural portrayals of the strong, silent sentinels of the landscape, both separate from it and embedded in it.
Terra McDonald has a MFA from the University of Calgary has received numerous grants and awards, including a Visual Arts Project Grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Her work is in both private and corporate collections across Canada, Asia, Australia, England and the U.S.A.
