Marianne Corless

13 January 2005 - 19 February 2005
Opening Reception 13 January 2005 8pm

Back Gallery:

Fur Queen II

“Fur Queen II, Marianne Corless‘s deftly worked portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, presents the standard, familiar iconic image of the distinguished royal in bust-length format. Here the resemblance to traditional likenesses of the queen ends, as Corless’s offering manipulates the face of Elizabeth through the spread and nap of various furs used to construct her visage. The queen’s tiara, visually inseparable from her hair, creates the impression of a dense mass atop her head. Her face spreads noticeably with the lay of the fur, widening the cheeks and mouth to remind us of the flattened snout of a lion. The mottled appearance of her garments conflates with the treatment of her skin, to create a patterned fur covering what appears to extend over her entire body…”

– Excerpt from brochure text by Lise Hosein

Marianne Corless grew up in Fort McMurray, Alberta, and has been based in Victoria, B.C. since 1985. During her first “academic career” in the sciences, Corless had the opportunity to spend years at a time living overseas, and it was through these experiences of living as a foreigner that she first began to question the nature of Canadian identity and culture. In 1996, she returned to Canada and shifted career direction by enrolling in the Victoria College of Art. Four years later she graduated as the valedictorian of her class and has been practicing art full-time ever since. Her work has been recently exhibited at Grunt Gallery in Vancouver, the New Gallery in Calgary and CAFKA.03 in Kitchener.