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Sooke artist finds creativity by expanding artistic horizons

Bryan Cathcart, 26, featured at Vancouver gallery
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Dinner After a Death, a painting by Sooke artist Bryan Cathcart is part of a collection featuring his work at the Outsiders and Others Gallery in Vancouver. (Contributed - Bryan Cathcart)

Working with many materials and disciplines inspires Bryan Cathcart to continue exploring and expanding his artistic horizons.

“I use various mediums, oils and chalk pastels acrylics, oils, watercolour, tempera and house paint, ink and charcoal so I can achieve different textures and light,” Cathcart said. “Using various surfaces too, such as canvas, wood panels, paper, cardboard, old doors, and metals helps inform my work. My focus is to create a piece that is both visually and mentally stimulating.”

Cathcart, born in Victoria and moved to Sooke six years ago, credits his mother to introduce him to art.

“She had a great appreciation for music and art,” he said. “It was always around our household.”

Cathcart, 26, started making art when graffiti first grabbed his attention in his early teens. He eventually shifted to figurative abstraction and then complete abstraction. He began to explore different styles, techniques, and materials while studying art theory, other forms of art, artists, and art movement in his spare time.

“I’m constantly trying to challenge myself and find new forms of visual representation and visual languages,” Cathcart said. “Creating new dialogues for myself keeps the creative ball rolling.”

His recent efforts on figurative works that focus on expressive lines, shapes and colours are featured on a show at the Outsiders and Others Gallery in Vancouver until May 30.

Yuri Arajs, director of the Outsiders and Others Gallery, said he welcomed the opportunity to promote a self-taught, emerging Indigenous artist and share his work with the community.

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“A lot of people talk about doing art, but I was drawn to Bryan’s work because of his work ethic and interest in learning as much as he can about art,” Arajs said. “We featured one of his pieces, Power to the People, last year, and it sold quickly. It’s a significant opportunity for an artist of that age to be featured in a show with 14 pieces of his work.”

Outsiders and Others opened during the pandemic just over a year ago as a window gallery that features self-taught and visionary artists.

“You can see entire exhibits from outside,” Arajs said. “We have a QR app where people can scan their way into the gallery for Bryan’s work and other artists and make purchases.”

Outsiders and Others, which feature several artists from Vancouver Island, are open on the first Saturday of each month and by appointment.

“We’re looking forward to opening full-time (once COVID restrictions are lifted),” Arajs added.

Cathcart said he’s grateful for the opportunity to work with Arajs.

“It’s a dream come true how quickly and easily it’s happened,” he said. “It’s hard to process going from one piece to a show within a year. It’s great to be able to show my art and be able to talk about it with someone other than my cat.”

For more on the gallery, please go online to outsidersandothers.com.



editor@sookenewsmirror.com

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A self-portrait of Bryan Cathcart, a Sooke artist whose work will appear in a show at the Outsiders and Others Gallery in Vancouver. (Contributed - Bryan Cathcart)