Meghan Hildebrand

“As a painter, I see my role as part of a storytelling tradition.  I supply a setting, sometimes some characters, then hope the viewer will use their own experiences to build the story. “

Megan’s style is very identifiable.  She starts with a wooden panel and builds up a foundation of acrylic paint and collage, using paper elements like brushstrokes.  These she cuts into shapes, distinct buildings, animals, petals, birds or freely indistinct.  Oil glazes tie together this bouillabaisse of imagery with nicely judged tone and colour.     

I asked her for some insight into the charming and complex images on the walls around us.  She describes them as imaginary places, “Our footprints - the shapes we leave in the world” Each ebullient collage seems to erupt at the intersection of the natural worlds and industrial reality.  She builds fantasy cities like castles in the air; she calls them “almost dreamscapes.”

For me they evoke St. Petersburg, the leaning tower of Pisa, Manhattan and Vancouver’s West End.  Hildebrand said she prefers to keep things ambivalent, “to fit into anyone’s memory.”  She starts with nothing and builds up a lot of free-floating imagery, defining what turns up as she goes along.

Using her scissors, she snips out all manner of animals and birds to paste into the environment she creates.  “Birds tell such great stories,” she laughed.  I asked her about the many galloping horses - or were they coyotes or deer rabbits?  She said they were “animal shapes”, purposely left open for people to define them as they wish.

Hildebrand’s paintings are attractive from a distance and become more and more interesting as one approaches.  She calls them “doorways to places.” What sort of places?

“A couch on a porch,” she replied. “That cozy place where my mom and I were,” so many years ago.  It’s a pleasure to go there with her.
  (Interview with Robert Amos, Victoria Times Colonist )     

Meghan Hildebrand's Work in the Gallery

Some of the work Meghan Hildebrand has in the Gallery is featured below. Please contact us if you have questions about any of the pieces or other works we may have.