Tanya Bub is working on creating a driftwood wolf right now.
It’s the latest of the hundreds of unique artworks this Victoria artist has created over the past five years and promises to be another amazing work when it’s done.
“I have this huge pile of driftwood in my studio, and I walked around it, looking for a piece that makes me think of a wolf,” said Bub. "In this case I found the first piece and the colour of it made me think of the rusty colour on the side of a wolf’s head. Then I looked for and found another piece that could be the curve of the snout.”
It’s a process that epitomizes an observation made by Henry David Thoreau when he said, “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”
For Bub, it’s often the eyes that complete her vision.
“Once I find the eyes, the wolf is there with me and I’m no longer alone,” said Bub. My brain fills it all in and then it’s just walking around looking for pieces that fill in the picture.”
And in truth, being able to see what isn’t immediately obvious to others is the secret behind Bub’s art.
In 2019, she was walking along the beach with her daughter when she picked up a piece of driftwood that, to her, looked like an orca breaching the ocean's surface. She showed it to her daughter who, after a time, was able to see the same image.
It was a watershed moment for Bub and the idea to use driftwood to create images was born.
Since that time, she’s created hundreds of driftwood artworks and has displayed them in a host of locations around Victoria, including Gallery Splash (501 Park Place in Esquimalt) where her works will be on display (and for sale) until September 3.
While her ability to envision and create amazing works of art is in itself fascinating, Bub’s renaissance-like range of interests is equally intriguing.
You see, Bub only turned her interests to art five years ago.
Prior to that, she earned a Philosophy of Science degree from McGill University and graduated from the Emily Carr School of Art and Design.
She was a PhD candidate for her doctorate in philosophy and worked as a computer programmer and IT consultant.
She also authored two books entitled “Totally Random: Why Nobody Understands Quantum Mechanics (A Serious Comic on Entanglement)” and “Reimagining Time: A Light-Speed Tour of Einstein's Theory of Relativity”.
“They are both books where you start with a simple thing and slowly unpack it to reveal a larger truth,” said Bub.
The fact that that same statement could be made about her art isn’t lost on Bub.
“I guess the same could be said about computer programming. You’re building something from little parts that combine to make something more complex and innovative. Maybe that’s a recurring theme to who I am. In the end, though, I’ve always been an artist. I mean it was always there, waiting for me.”
Bub is also about compassion and social awareness.
Last summer she created a throne in the form of paper mâché created from street litter and some of the signs that street people used when asking for help.
“This project was about empathy and prejudice and, in the end, about grace,” said Bub. “I was captured by the concept of grace. The receiver of grace doesn’t have to earn it – it’s given without the person having to earn it.”
The piece was central to the creation of what was first a 10-minute documentary that evolved into an hour-long feature called ‘Sitting With Grace’ that provided a glimpse into the courage, resilience, and strength of people on the street. It featured interviews with eight ‘street people’ and was critically acclaimed.
What’s ahead for Bub?
“I’ll be having a solo show called Bird by Bird at the Gage Galley in Bastion Square for the month of December,” said Bub. “My shows always have fun surprises where I do the entire gallery up as a single installation which extends into the outdoor space. And stay tuned for an interactive city-wide art bird stunt as a lead up to the show.”
At the moment, beyond the current exhibit at Gallery Splash, Bubs works can be seen at the Malahat Skywalk, and at the Bay Centre, Victoria High School, the Gage Gallery, in a fund-raising window at 749 Yates St.
Folks can also follow Bub’s work by following her on Instagram @VictoriaDrifter.
