\u201cUpon reflection, I realized that both Kim and Alejandra turn to the natural world as more than just subjects of beauty. For Kim, painting from a community garden in West Vancouver becomes a way to reflect on growth, nourishment and the fragility of food systems in times of scarcity. Alejandra, working from northern Mexico, uses natural imagery as well, but in a dreamier way \u2013 exploring how Latin America is romanticized by outsiders. Though grounded in different geographies and experiences, both artists explore how abundance can hold layers of tension between beauty and critique, comfort and resistance. Hence the title, Parallel Visions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rosin\u2019s paintings are of her plot in a community garden. \u201cI have always been interested in growing food,\u201d she said. \u201cFrom nothing, just a little seed, wonderful, nourishing plants grow. It feels almost magical. It makes me happy but also a little sad, because not everybody can grow their own food. Some people have to go without, when they don\u2019t have a garden and can\u2019t buy their vegetables because of high prices. When I look at my plot, I think of the food chain on our planet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her paintings are full of edible green things: kale and lettuce, beets and carrots. One can imagine the labour that went into growing such a lush garden and the tasty dishes after the harvest. The images reflect the artist\u2019s love for the plants she grows, as well as her longing to share her cornucopia with everyone. Her painting of red poppies is a worthy companion to the vegetable plots, adding beauty to the nutritional component. \u201cMany people grow poppies in our plots,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Rosin also enjoys painting still life. \u201cIt is like a recording of a moment in time,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd the decorative element is there, too. People often appreciate such paintings, especially if they could ask me to include their favourite objects in the image.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She likes working on commissions, which she describes as \u201ccollaborations with the clients.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCommissions take a different mindset from making art of my own, less creative freedom,\u201d she acknowledged. \u201cSome clients have a certain vision, and my job is to bring that vision to life. One example is dog portraits. Dog owners want them realistic, almost photographic. I don\u2019t have to interpret anything, as I do in my own paintings. It is easier in some way, like a mechanical exercise. My creativity is not as important as my skills as a painter. Of course, it is not that simple. When I paint, the image occasionally changes on its own, it has its own demands. Then I worry. What if the client doesn\u2019t like the end result? What if they won\u2019t buy this painting? Fortunately, that has never happened to me.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n People\u2019s stories have always served as an inspiration for her art. \u201cI\u2019m curious about everything \u2013 traveling, music, nature. Before I moved to Vancouver, I lived in Seattle,\u201d she said. \u201cI worked on theatre sets for several fringe theatres there\u2026. After I moved here, I created a set for a musical on Granville Island. Teaming up with theatre companies was always a fabulous experience, despite the low budgets.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Like Rosin, Morales also likes working on commissions. \u201cSome people are very relaxed. \u2018You\u2019re the artist. You know what to do.\u2019 Other people are very involved. They want exactly what they envision and you, the artist, need to give them what they want,\u201d she said. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On the other hand, unlike the serene greenery in Rosin\u2019s paintings, Morales\u2019s paintings emphasize her unease with society\u2019s contradictions and paradoxes. Her flowers are colourful and gorgeous, but unrealistic. \u201cI wanted them too beautiful for this world, almost uncomfortable,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd the animals in my paintings \u2013 they fight, like humans do. There are conflicts there.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In her self-portrait, which is on display, the dichotomy between the pastel tones, the elaborate, narcissistic flowers, the birds in the middle of an angry confrontation and the pensive woman facing the painting echoes the artist\u2019s contemplation on the incongruities of life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The self-portrait is titled \u201cWill Happiness Find Me?\u201d Many of Morales\u2019s other paintings also sport titles that add a verbal facet to the art\u2019s visual impact. \u201cMy titles come from books or songs. Or, I remember someone saying something, and it is relevant for this painting. Or a title could be a quote from an old show,\u201d she said. Her tranquil landscape of a Vancouver shoreline is called \u201cNothing Mattered More Than Anything Else.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Morales moved to Vancouver four years ago from Mexico. \u201cI received my BA from McGill University in 2016 and studied for my master\u2019s degree in visual arts at UBC.\u201d<\/p>\n Besides Canada, she studied art in Spain and in her native Mexico. \u201cWhen I took art classes in Mexico, many students were housewives,\u201d she recalled. \u201cNorth Mexican culture is different than here. Women are supposed to follow a traditional path of a wife and a mother. The women that took art classes were anxious because they deviated from that path. I wanted to show their anxiety, their inner struggle in my paintings.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Morales, women are freer here in Canada, the entire society more relaxed, and her art reflects the difference. \u201cI painted a jungle in Mexico \u2013 and it was very bright and colourful. But when I painted a jungle here, the colours became less vivid, more muted. Maybe because it was raining outside,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Morales taught fine art as a teacher\u2019s assistant, while she studied at UBC. \u201cI liked teaching. I would like to do more of that,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Her latest artistic project is rather unusual. She painted a series of cityscapes featuring dumpsters around Vancouver. \u201cSome of them have amazing graffiti. It was such fun,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Parallel Visions is on until July 21. Rosin\u2019s website is kimthings.com<\/a>; Morales\u2019s is moralesalejandra.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n![\"photo](\"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/jul-11-VA.11.Parallel-Visions-KimRosin_Plot5_PoppiesAndPollinators.jpg\")
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