Life is all about choice and people are free to pick their paths says a Calgary artist who is bringing this message to Okotoks.
“The bottom line is that we do have a choice,” said Tharrie Zietsman. “We have choices, we are not really victims of life.”
Zietsman’s “A Lady’s Journey” exhibit will be on display at the Okotoks Art Gallery starting Feb. 10 and features marionettes and paintings representing a woman’s journey through life.
“The one that carries burdens or the other one that is just free and how we travel through life and what we as women make of life,” she said is what the art explores.
Zietsman grew up on a farm in Africa and pursued art at an early age. She acquired a graduate degree in fine arts, trained to be a marionette designer and worked as the head of props for a performing arts company.
Zietsman said she hopes people who attend the exhibit will laugh, feel less burdened and realize they have choices in life. She has seen a range of emotion at other shows.
“I saw people crying in front of my paintings and some women say, ‘You know, this is me’ and ‘I didn’t realize that, you know what, I can turn around’ or ‘I don’t feel alone anymore,’” she explained.
Allan Boss, cultural and historical services team leader for the Town of Okotoks, described Zietsman’s work as “evocative” and “tactile” and said it really stood out when the selection committee was deciding which exhibits to feature at the gallery.
“That sense of movement that exists within a marionette, you manipulate it and it moves, it exists in her work,” he said. “So it’s fabulous.”
Boss said her work features a sense of theatricality and the exhibit depicts a whimsical tour of a woman’s journey through life with animals representing different characteristics.
“Her work is a living dreamscape,” he said.
Boss said they are looking forward to showing her work and believes it will speak to people in different ways.
“Just as a piece of music can mean a million things to a million people, this art will do that as well,” he said. “That’s what art is about. It’s about inspiring thought and passion and a sense of place and a movement.”
Jan Robinson, education program specialist for the Town’s cultural and historical services, said she thinks people of all ages will react to the exhibit.
“It’s not a highbrow show and yet it’s still very complex,” she explained.
Robinson said Zietsman’s work entranced members of the selection committee and it is different from the artwork usually featured in the gallery.
“It’s different than most because it’s three-dimensional and her marionettes and the soft sculptures are so whimsical, that’s what I liked about it,” she said.
Robinson added it was an easy exhibit to develop as it related to both children and adult programs. For the children’s program, Zietsman will help them make bird marionettes. During the adult workshop, participants bring in hats to decorate in a way to represent them.
Robinson anticipated the children’s workshop to be popular and for adults to have a fun evening with Zietsman.
“I think women will go away thinking differently about themselves, just because I think that is one of her roles or her reasons for doing her art is to make women stop and think about themselves in a better way or a more positive, happy way,” she explained.
An opening reception for “A Lady’s Journey” and “For the Love of Shoes” runs at the gallery Feb. 10. The reception is free of charge and attendees will have the chance to meet Zietsman.
“She’s such an interesting artist that I think to come to the opening and have her talk about her work while people look at it will be really insightful,” said Robinson.
Marionette Magic with Tharrie Zietsman for children runs March 3 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and costs $7. The adult workshop, a Woman and Her Hat, runs Feb. 15 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and costs $12.
