Discovery
Location
1657 Columbia Street, North Vancouver, BC
Dates
Dec. 10 – Dec. 24 2020
Private Viewing
By appointment only, limited to groups of 1-2 person[s] within one household as per COVID guidelines.
Schedule a viewing through info@brentcomber.com or 604 980 4467
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Story
In the rooted depths of Discovery, we illuminate sparse emotions ranging from curiosity and excitement of the approaching potential, to the intimidation and fear of the unknown. These emotions culminate in a desire to explore endless possibilities as we transition from the unknown into the known.
Where the ocean meets land is where we are granted the deepest engagement into Discovery.
Between these two realms is where we encounter the discovery of shells as they reveal themselves during the change of the tide.
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Along the divide of these two dimensions on the shorelines of the Pacific Northwest, mussel and oyster shells, open, broken, and discarded, provide a snapshot of life and showcase an exterior that was utilized as a solid preservation for the soft, vulnerable specimen inside.
Just like these past life forms that are found along the shorelines, the final state of Discovery embodies gratitude towards security, protection and familiarity.
Discovery is a blend of feeling and logic resulting in a development of conceptualization, which leads to reflection. Discovery is fueled by passion, rewarded with wisdom, and coincides with the process of learning.
Discovery marks Brent Comber Atelier’s first exhibition. Through the process of prototyping and collaboration, Atelier makes way for Brent’s evolved focus towards an elevated body of contemporary design, art, and sculptural works.
“Discovery is based on the engagement we have with the area in which ocean meets land and takes a deeper look into how we internalize the experience.”
“Pinctada encompasses the expressions of youthful naivety, it embodies my earliest adventures into the wilderness of self-discovery.”
Brent Comber
Pinctada 62-01, 2020
Western Red Cedar, Clear and Ebony Hardwax Oils, hand-blown glass with low voltage LED lighting
41″ x 62″ x 12″D
story
Memories help shape our view of the world. Although not always accurate, a sliver of time is retained for our recollections. As that fragment of time stays absolutely still, it illuminates ever so softly as it latches to your senses while you immerse yourself within the movement of reminiscing. Like the Nacre that lies within an Oyster Shell, its exquisite state resembles the energy that glows gently within the deepest depths of our memory.
Prior to the carving of Pinctada, the robust wood emanated a colossal figure. Within the adroit abstraction, an elemental underlying tenderness, harmonious with the perception of what a retrospective moment of thought entails, is exposed.
Brent Comber
Mercanarias and Mytili, 2020
Western Red Cedar, Clear and Ebony Hardwax Oils
Various Sizes from 28″ x 32.5″ x 11.5″H to 69″ x 24″ x 13.5″H
story
MERCANARIA
The process of developing memories is a creative act and is pieced together after years of consolidating and curating a consciousness. As we hold onto these portions of recollections internally, we subconsciously let fragments through. They form our personalities and shape our world view.
The clam shell-like Mercanaria Series encompasses the exercise we implement as individuals when we cultivate memories that not only stay with us, but also sculpt the characteristics and personalities we demonstrate.
MYTILUS
An encounter with the unfamiliar, whether a person or an experience; is often introduced with a complex exterior. The influence behind Discovery is to remind one’s self that in order to participate in the act of discovering, you have to allow room for it internally. You need to prepare yourself to be engaged and amenable to a new encounter.
The Mytilus trossulus, a mussel shell native to the Pacific Northwest, relates to the shift in perception that results from the process of discovery. Like the unfamiliarity with a fortuitous person, place or experience, the Mytilus’s periostracum is a display of an outer layer that can vary from the delicacy that is within.
Brent Comber
Acer Oistré Suspensus, 2020
Western Maple, Soft White Hardwax Oil and Custom Finish with low voltage LED lighting and Dyneema rope
27″Dia x 92″H
story
To truly discover something, you need to temporarily disconnect, and allow yourself to become soft and receptive. From this state of being, we transition into a position that is open and accessible to taking in the atmosphere in proximity.
Acer Oistre Suspensus represents the eventuality of becoming familiar to our present surroundings, coaxing us to acknowledge the subconscious obligation to detach in order to be susceptible. As the light glows from within, a subtle depiction is visualized that symbolizes the youthful naivety of becoming intimate to the world around you.
The Acer Oistre Suspensus is carved from the outer segment of a maple tree. The outlying surface of the maple tree translate into an assembly of shells. With a distinct configuration showcased on both the coating and marrow, these gracious specimens endorse a showing of the maples trees in which they originated, each exclusive in their architecture.
Brent Comber
Sentinel, Coral Garden, 2020
Western Maple, Pearlescent Paint and Clear Hardwax Oil on Basalt
30″Dia x 96″H
story
There is beauty that lies beneath the bark or under the waves.
Brent Comber
Free-Living, 2020
Western Red Cedar, Ebony Hardwax Oil with low voltage LED lighting
31″Dia x 14″D
story
The quality of every experience we endure in our lifetime is based on various factors. As we grant more permission as a civilization to extend our bandwidth of information and allocate ocular shortcuts on to screens, we are enabling a quandary in which our experiences in life are becoming more diluted and saturated. With this dilemma has come an urgent necessity to detach from our technological extensions in order to be thoroughly and thoughtfully mesmerized by the experiences that stand before us.
Free-Living facilitates a concept that when we achieve the ability to disconnect, we can become fully receptive to the bliss of discovering. This in turn allows us to move openly with no restraints.