Ominous Incursions is an exhibition of images by Courtney Fairweather, which whimsically melds photographs from her far-flung travels with paintings of the fantastical creatures that populate her interior landscape. They shimmer in the deserts and plains, cities and ruins that she has visited. Some of them are delicate and vulnerable, others menacing and dangerous. Such is the stuff of nightmares and daydreams.
Travelling the world with camera in hand, Fairweather has reimagined such disparate places as the massive salt encrusted formations of the Atacama Desert in Chile, and the metal rims at an Ollantaytambo garage in Peru. She has taken her camera to the Grand Canal in Venice and the ruined harems of ancient Uzbekistan. Her explorations have led her to photograph the sweeping sand dunes of Namibia as well as the lichen and moss-encrusted tundra of both Iceland and northern Manitoba. Her images of these wondrous landscapes have inspired her to paint imaginary creatures, which exist in a taut dynamic of threat and susceptibility. These incursions intrude upon the tranquility of their surroundings.
Ominous Incursions, created with Japanese ink and iridescent watercolour paint on inkjet prints, is in exhibition at Gallery 1313 during September 3-14, 2025. Address: 1313 Queen St. West, Toronto ON. Gallery Hours: Wed- Sat 1-5 pm & Sun 1-4 pm EDT
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