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Artist Statement

In this mysterious internal landscape, where our experiences are not solid, knowable objects, where our feelings come and go, and where our deeper selves reside, my work explores what it feels like to be human, alive, female, with all the vulnerability, yearning, resilience, and complexity inherent inside us.

My recent work is a collection of collages and paintings of women, referencing aspects of her depth, vulnerability, and strength. Each, complex and exploratory, they are in direct rebellion against the instinct to simplify her to only what is visible at first glance and hint at something more allusive and compelling in the whole of her. Every figure is embodied, holding dignity and wholeness within the chaos and mystery. The symbolism of red and pink helps to animate the contrast and also connects us back to the flesh, the body, the self.

I usually start with small collaged mixed-media explorations on paper with photos and paint. I cut, connect, disconnect, smear and explore alternatives until a figure emerges with a sense of embodied presence. These small works on paper can stand alone, but also feed the larger paintings in the series as they are explored further through paint and texture.

About the Artist

Based in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, Canada, Amy J. Dyck’s work is a unique mix of representational and abstract expressionism and strives to express something deeper in the human experience than can be observed by the eye. Using collage, oil paints and drawing mediums, and pulling from anatomical studies and visual research, her work is influenced by old and new masters and is always evolving.

Amy has been interviewed for CBC Art Minute, has had her work featured in a handful of art magazines, and has won awards in several art exhibitions. She actively teaches and demonstrates painting and drawing for all ages in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley and has her work in collections around North America and Internationally.

Art & the Journey Through Suffering

Artist Talk. Nov 2021. 21 min.

This is a video tour through 5 groupings of artwork spanning 4 years. The artwork discussed expresses different stages of grief, struggle, resilience and healing as the artist describes the results of her artistic practice in the midst of her journey with an illness that put her in a wheelchair for much of 3 years.

Bodies of work discussed were created between 2017 – 2021:

Facing Monsters
Dwell
Embrace
Emergence
Dichotomy