For Darren Kooyman, art has always been a part of his life. From creating mesmerizing art pieces, to performing with several bands, art flows in his veins, the same as blood. Drawing inspiration from everything around him, his creativity has no true bounds.
After receiving a Digital Arts degree from Red Deer college, Darren played in several bands in Alberta, eventually leading to him and his wife, Diane, to move to Vancouver. After the band he was performing with had broken up, Darren had decided it was time to “shake himself loose”, and express his artistic desires in other ways. His solution? Return to his roots of painting. Finding a warehouse close to Downtown where he could operate out of, Darren immediately jumped back into painting. Finding some success within the Vancouver art scene, Darren and Diane moved to Ottawa, Ontario. It was with this move where Darren began a proper practice. Immediately on the hunt for a new space for his arts, he began to make connections, leading to his art to be featured in galleries such as Studio Sixty-Six Art Gallery.
Eventually it was time for Darren and his family to move back to Alberta. However, this would not be done without one last exhibit. One last grad show; an accumulation of everything he had been through at this point. That exhibit was 2016 + 1. An autobiography of Darren Kooyman.
Now being featured in The Carrot Community Arts Coffeehouse for the month of June, 2016 + 1 has found a space within the 118th Avenue Community. When asked how Darren felt about being a part of our community and our mission, he stated that “What’s happening at The Carrot, and the whole, and how they’re throwing their weight behind the arts, more areas need to do that. It makes things better for everybody”.
As a group that agrees that art has the power to transform everything around them, we are excited to feature Darren Kooyman’s exhibit 2016 + 1 at The Carrot, and to have him be a part of the community.
Artist Statement
In this body of work my approach is from a technical area of painting. I wanted to put as little space as possible between the vision and the performance of creating the work. I used a limited palette and spent very little time mixing colours using most paint straight from the tube.
Many of the works are smaller than I have done in the past, which is largely due to a smaller work environment. This down sizing has also led to a more economical use of materials and a deeper connection from painting to painting.
Darren’s work will be on display and for sale from June 1 - July 4.
Website: darrenkooyman.com
