Image of Elma Eidse Neufeld in front of her works at Cafe Verve.--News Photo Anna Smith
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
Elma Eidse Neufeld’s art exhibition, Dawn and Dusk, explores the versatility of what simple paper can be in the right hands.
Neufeld grew up in Manitoba and has only recently moved to Medicine Hat to be closer to family, but her art career started decades ago.
“Art has always been a huge part of my life, even as a child. I was raised on a farm, and I saw all of life in a creative way – whether the frost on the windows or the etchings in the old family Bible,” said Neufeld. “I was 14 when I first realized a person could become an artist.”
It would be 10 years later that she would take her first art classes. Since then, Neufeld has taken various art classes and workshops, though she believes one never stops learning about art.
Her work has gone through multiple mediums throughout her career, from painting to pottery, but she ultimately settled on multi-media work.
“This art show is a sample representing a large body of work that I began to develop decades ago. I’d gone to a workshop in Toronto, where I was introduced to Japanese papers, some of the sheets one of a kind,” said Neufeld. “I was intrigued enough to purchase my initial stock of these papers, which I took home and began to incorporate into my own work.”
The work on display at Cafe Verve is the result of that experimentation and Neufeld’s take on the Japanese art of chigiri-e, which uses torn coloured paper to create images.
“I begin by standing in front of all my papers, which include a variety: purchased sheets, some of which I’ve tinted; handmade papers I’ve cast myself; older water colours I intend to recycle,” said Neufeld. “I start a piece by attaching paper shapes to the surface using a medium – no sketching ahead of time – until something in the work tells me the direction I want to go with it.”
She says her lines are largely dictated by memories and she simply continues until every element is pleasing to her eyes no matter how long that takes. The body of work on display is a varied collection of newer and older pieces, making guessing the overall age of the exhibition impossible to tell.
“This show of almost two dozen pieces has some work as old as 35 years, the most recent completed within the last 12 months,” said Neufeld. She expressed her gratitude to Cafe Verve for allowing her to hang her show on the wall for the past month and a half, and hopes people are able to take away from the final two weeks what she hopes they have since the beginning: Joy.
“I want to share my work with viewers so that my talents are featured in a way that gives them the same joy I got from creating it,” said Neufeld.
Those interested may learn more about Neufeld and view her work at Cafe Verve until the end of October, or by visiting chateauroc.com.
