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<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nInstallation view of Sophia Lapres, Mixed Blessings<\/em> at Towards Gallery<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sophia Lapres\u2019s paintings are overcome with this wistful sentimental yearning. As a recent MFA graduate from the University of Guelph, Mixed Blessings<\/em> is Lapres\u2019s first solo exhibition, currently installed at Towards Gallery. This small intimate space works perfectly for her atmospheric, gestural art style, immersing the viewer in her romantic world of horses running wild through a lush field, a kissing couple tightly embracing, white lilies reflected through a mirror of lavender, an idyllic country house under a vibrant rainbow, and a fighter jet silhouetted by the setting sun. These saccharine vignettes hint at a larger narrative, inviting the viewer to engage with the paintings beyond their visual aesthetics and into their own personal reminiscence.<\/p>\n\n\n Sophia Lapres, Live Forever, 2024, oil on aluminum panel, 17.5 x 12 inches<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lapres has both a painting and a literary practice, where one consequently inspires her work in the other. The names of the paintings are taken from her own private writings, or named after novels; the exhibition title itself Mixed Blessings<\/em> comes from a book of the same name by Danielle Steel. One can\u2019t help but notice her paintings seem to whisper, suggest and gesture towards something more than what\u2019s represented in the frame, as if a fragment of a story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, there\u2019s a painting of two women who turn their backs to the viewer and face the vast ocean and gloomy skies. One of the women is prominently centered; wearing a colourful, floral swimsuit, her bare back exposed. Upon reading the title, \u201cHe stared fondly at their freckled backs\u201d, suddenly there is a third figure present whose place would be where the viewer is standing. We are then absorbed by his feelings of fondness towards these women. We begin to imagine perhaps a pleasant beach day spent with them. In realizing we are only spectators of a painting; we begin to long for more time with them. We feel nostalgia for this fleeting human moment that we didn\u2019t actually experience ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n Sophia Lapres, He started fondly at their freckled backs, 2024, oil on aluminum, 44.5 x 26.75 inches<\/p>\n\n\n\n Furthermore, the paintings are rendered on aluminum as opposed to the traditional canvas. The slick material resists the paint; it sits on the surface, pooling or dripping. Lapres must maintain a gentle hand while working to prevent picking paint back up. This also allows her loose and gestural brushstrokes to be visible. The finished paintings themselves hold the memory of her delicate actions. By painting on aluminum, the images glow like remembering a distant past dappled in soft light, furthering the longing nostalgia they fundamentally evoke.<\/p>\n\n\n Sopia Lapres, I could hear the whirring of a black fly as it circled the room, 2024, oil on aluminum panel, 44.5 x 26.75 in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The installation references that of Wolfgang Tillmans\u2019s exhibitions with the paintings sporadically yet deliberately placed at different heights on the wall. The larger pieces are set at eye level and in between are smaller, hand-sized paintings higher, lower or slightly askew from eye level, and with varying distances between them.<\/p>\n\n\n Installation view of Sophia Lapres, Mixed Blessings<\/em> at Towards Gallery<\/p>\n\n\n\n One must look up towards a painting of a rocket taking off, then lower their gaze to see a young woman in contemplation, resting her chin on a pillow. It creates a sense of movement and dynamism, reminding us of the futile and ephemeral nature of time.<\/p>\n\n\n Sophia Lapres, He lay his tongue deep and quiet inside her mouth, 2024, oil on aluminum, 7.5 x 5.5 inches<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my brief conversation with the artist during my visit to the show, Lapres stated that her images are engaged in both \u201ca sincerity and a criticality,\u201d a sentiment that also wholly applies to life. Lapres captures the complex, arbitrary, and sometimes mundane aspects of life through her intimately framed images. Small gestures are portrayed in her paintings; hands with interlocked fingers resting on a lap \u2013 \u201cAnd she winked back\u201d, or a view through an airplane window of a morning sky \u2013 \u201cI only travel with my credit card\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n