Marie Fox

Austin Daigle

Alison Willms

Although primarily self-taught, Marie Fox studied at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in the fine arts program. She works out of Fredericton New Brunswick.

Marie Fox is haunted by dream spectres, faces and shifting shapes of women who appear but don’t speak directly. She paints them in order to hold the visions still, in an effort to decipher what it is they mean to say, as if she is channeling a message from hidden realms.
Her process is both intuitive and extremely technical. When working with photographs, she builds imagery on a frozen moment and transcends it. While she painstakingly applies numerous translucent layers of colour and fine line details, her mind’s eye recalls tatters of dream sequences and various sensory impressions of landscape; she might recollect the smell of a place or the way the wind moved through the grass. Her goal is both precision and a sort of wabi sabi, organic looseness, and the dichotomies don’t stop there. She draws on her First Nations ancestry and spirituality as well as classical influences such as courtly 15th century Flemish paintings, Gothic miniature portraits and elaborately decorated medieval manuscripts. She is attracted to vibrant contemporary works and the gloss and glamour of Vogue high fashion models. She enjoys the push pull between realism and naturalism that she so elegantly portrays.

This artist’s participation in SOFA 2018 was made possible through collaboration with Gallery on Queen, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Alison Willms, an emerging artist from the east coast of Canada, is a graduate of the Bachelor of Fine Arts program at Mount Allison University. Alison uses a wide range of media in her practice, including analog photography, printmaking, film, sound, and installation, as she works between two locations she considers ‘home’: Fredericton N.B. and St. Andrews by-the-Sea N.B..

Willms’ work explores a spectrum of ideas from relationships to ritual as she shares her experiences. 

Austin Daigle is emerging metalsmith. He graduated with honours from the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design (NBCCD) in Jewellery and Metal Arts.

Conceptual work and statement pieces have always been his focus.

He creates pendants and bracelets with emphasis on cold connections and pierce work inspired by the natural flora and patterns found native to New Brunswick.

His work is an expression of his love to the natural beauty of New Brunswick