Valerie Palmer is a Michipicoten Bay-based painter whose realist works situate her human subjects in the psychologically-charged landscapes and domestic environments of Northern Lake Superior. Palmer’s Clouds (1990) features two figures, one female and one male, their bodies turned towards each other but their gazes shuttered and introspective. Both are in transition between childhood and adulthood: the boy’s features are hardening into the chiseled contours of adolescence, while the girl’s figure is softening into feminine curves. A sense of unease is accentuated by the painting’s strange perspective and the layering of a flattened interior over a rich exterior scene. This painting was acquired by the MacLaren Art Centre in 2015, and this presentation marks its first public display here.
Valerie Palmer received her BFA from the University of Manitoba in 1973, and has exhibited throughout Canada. She is represented by the Loch Gallery, Toronto and her work is held in numerous private and public collections, including the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, New Brunswick; the Art Gallery of Algoma, Saulte Ste. Marie; and the Art Gallery of Sudbury.
