A Path, Then Otherwise gathers a body of abstract works that explores the dynamic tension between intention and emergence, where design gives way to improvisation. Each composition unfolds through a process that is both deliberate and responsive, built in layers that record decisions, revisions, and moments of disruption.  The surfaces act as sites of negotiation between precision and looseness, planning and instinct.

This work is rooted in a call-and-response rhythm.  Marks initiate movement. Subsequent gestures answer, interrupt, or redirect.  This dialogue accumulates across the canvas, creating structures that feel simultaneously constructed and discovered. Lines may assert a framework, only to be softened by intuitive interventions. Colour fields might suggest stability, yet remain open to intrusion, revision, and collapse.

Each composition holds evidence of its own making. In the end, what emerges is not a fixed image but a history: a surface shaped by accumulation, interruption, and change.

A Path, Then Otherwise reflects on the nature of making as a nonlinear process. The path is never singular or stable; it shifts, doubles back, and branches into unforeseen directions. Each work embodies this sense of contingency, where outcomes are not predetermined but discovered through engagement with the material. In this way, the exhibition embraces uncertainty, values revision, and remains open to transformation. What is presented is not a conclusion, but a continual becoming.

Through cycles of adding and subtracting, the work resists resolution, instead holding tension between chaos and order. These contrasts are not oppositional but interdependent; each condition making the other legible.

Each piece begins with an intention, but quickly diverges as the process unfolds. Marks are layered, obscured, reworked, and sometimes erased entirely, leaving behind a visible record of both action and revision.

The paintings operate in a space between control and unpredictability. Structured compositions give way to moments of disruption; areas of density dissolve into openness.

Materially, the surfaces are built through repeated layering. Pigment, texture, and gesture interact across time, forming complex strata that reveal earlier states beneath later interventions. Scraped passages expose what has been covered; translucent veils allow fragments of previous decisions to persist. The result is a dynamic interplay between what is concealed and what is revealed, inviting the viewer to navigate multiple temporalities at once.

MEDIUM

acrylic, collage, marker, wax crayon, pencil

ARTIST BIO

Lisa Farrell is a Vancouver-based visual artist who brings spontaneity and curiosity to her bold mixed media abstract paintings. She has always been artistic and originally expressed her creativity as an Interior Designer in both Vancouver and London, England. With degrees in Psychology and Interior Design, and years spent travelling and living around the world, she brings a wide worldview and a sense of history to her layered works. Largely self-taught, Farrell has consistently furthered her arts education with courses in multiple mediums in Canada, the USA, Mexico and Europe. Alongside creating her art, Farrell is invested in expanding her art community and supporting other artists.

Born in Uganda, raised in Ontario, Farrell landed in Vancouver where she currently lives with her husband and three children.