26 October 2026 – 25 January 2027
GVPL Central Branch
735 Broughton St, Victoria, BC
About the Artist:
Rowan Doucette (she/her) is a painter, illustrator, printmaker, and writer, working and learning on the unceded traditional territories of the Lekwungen-speaking peoples known as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations. Her practice explores how art embodies us—and how we embody art. Using introspection as a central tool, Doucette investigates herself and the world around her, translating these reflections into paintings, prints, and writings. She holds a BFA in painting from Emily Carr University of Art + Design and continues her practice through apprenticeships, residencies, and experimentation.
www.rowandoucette.com
@rowdou_
Artist Statement – Threshold
In order to change, people need to become aware of their sensations and the way that their bodies interact with the world around them.*
Threshold brings together a series of paintings and writing, which focus on the imagery of portals. Through seeing, passing through, or being blocked by these gateways, I seek to illuminate the physical, mental and structures that often go unnoticed.
In painting the moment a hand opens a gate, I pause at that tense moment of balancing on the threshold. I don’t know what comes next, but by centering on imagery around the unknown, I pay attention to aspects of life, body, and mind that are overlooked in their continual state of flux.
A recurring topic and something that plays a role in my art practice is the concept of pain. Pain is the place I enter, transforming my perspectives and states dramatically. Like my art making, and the idea of the threshold, it is not something that can be clearly defined, held, or seen. It is a physical and metaphorical barrier which seems to have a separate timeline from my own. Pain is challenging and isolating, but it also can foster sharing, connection and understanding. It is a transitory state, much like the act of painting, which requires me to slow down and listen.
The transition from grieving an old idea (or former body state) to discovering a new one is a vulnerable place. These moments of in-betweeness are at the core of my creative process. By looking there, I aim to honour uncertainty as a site for the emergence of new paths and modes of thinking. And continually work to radically accept my constantly changing body and life.
*Bessel A. van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score
