It’s a cloudy Sunday afternoon and Banff artist Cindy Gibson clutches an oversized white mug as the brunch crowd thins.
She’s looking out the window, but it’s difficult to know precisely what she’s thinking. We start to talk about her “thing,” birds. I tell her what I was thinking about as I made my way to meet her – ravens and owls. She beams and reaches into her pocket. In her palm, she holds a tiny carved jade owl that caught her eye while waiting to purchase a newspaper.
“I saw an owl in a dream,” Gibson said. “I looked it up – owls can see in the dark. They can see what we can’t see.”
This month, Gibson shares Shapeshifter – a collection of stained glass mosaics for all to see at the Banff Public Library Art Gallery. An opening reception with the artist takes place Friday (May 1) from 7-9 p.m.
The show is a dazzling display of patterns, winged and sea creatures, as well as a slice of Mount Rundle. But more than just images, the mosaics speak to her personal transitions in recent years and how they have influenced her art.
“The last show was the unconscious coming out and putting it into glass,” Gibson shares. “But it didn’t happen this time. The angst was there, but it wasn’t inspiring. I was in transition and found myself in no man’s land.”
In retrospect, Gibson realized she was in transition and needed to launch herself, not from the ledge, but from the perch to fly.
“It’s about letting go, stripping down and letting it be what it is,” Gibson says.
Despite the beauty of the glass, Gibson says it pushes her in ways she never imagined.
“I feel like I’m at the mercy of the glass,” Gibson admits. “It gives you a limitation – you go to the shop and you have to get what they have. But it also means you need to be creative about it. That’s just part of the relationship with the glass.”
While grout isn’t something most people think about, Gibson says it’s just as important as where the glass comes to rest.
“Something magical always happens in that negative space where the grout goes,” she marvels. “It’s the transformational piece.”
To purchase pieces or for more information, visit Gibson at the Banff Public Library or email her at [email protected].
Shapeshifter is on display until June 8.
