Toronto-based artist Sean Yelland will make you look twice at urban settings.
Yelland is known to find the beauty in the mundane but he also approaches his work with a sense of uncanniness. Whether it’s deserted city streets or empty swimming pools, his work tends to focus on places that should be full of action but instead are quiet and still. The viewer feels as though they are looking through a lens of voyeurism and are left with a sense of discomfort, or “Yelland-choly” as he describes it. Yet, there’s something beautiful in the eerie stillness that confronts the viewer with ideas of place, community and identity. Many of Yelland’s works serve as a visual diary of his ever-changing home city. The nostalgic longing that shines through his work is something that almost everyone can relate to.
To create his art, Yelland works from photographs and paints over each piece, creating a mood with saturated colours and intensified lighting. He also often uses reflections, allowing for multiple viewpoints in a single image. With a touch of dark humour woven into his artistic style, Yelland’s work resonates with audiences, sparking conversations about the past, present, and future of urban landscapes. Cities will always grow and change, but Yelland’s work holds their memories of the past and prompts discussion as to what their future holds.
See Yelland’s fourth exhibit at Madrona Gallery titled The Long Way Home until March 8. Visit madronagallery.com.
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