Upcoming Saanich art exhibition takes personal look at WWII – Victoria News | Catch My Job

Victoria artist Fran Benton is holding an exhibition in Saanich starting Oct. 25 that she created after putting her own interpretation on war photos and memorabilia collected during her late father’s service in World War II. (Courtesy of France Benton)

Victoria artist Fran Benton is holding an exhibition in Saanich starting Oct. 25 that she created after putting her own interpretation on war photos and memorabilia collected during her late father’s service in World War II. (Courtesy of France Benton)

Victoria artist Fran Benton is holding an exhibition in Saanich starting Oct. 25 that she created after putting her own interpretation on war photos and memorabilia collected during her late father’s service in World War II. (Courtesy of France Benton)

A Victoria artist is opening an exhibition in Saanich this month that aims to encourage people to put their own interpretations on the war experience while supporting the Royal Canadian Legion.

Fran Benton, a retired Vancouver Island University visual arts professor, was inspired to put together the exhibit after she began paying close attention to her late father’s war photos and memorabilia while serving in World War II.

“There’s always been war gear in my family … I didn’t think much of it until my mom and dad passed away and I inherited it all,” Benton said. “I thought I’d put my own spin on the items … I blew up the pictures fairly large, and I drew them on these old architectural drawings that I made years ago as a student but never actually used, then I just kept playing with the pictures I had on them. The more I worked, the more interested I became.”

A multi-media artist, Benton chose to interpret her father’s images and items through a mix of sculpture, drawing, writing, embroidery and even interactive pieces based on letters her mother sent and received during the war.

“I took little pieces of phrases from letters and embroidered them on old handkerchiefs. I put them on the floor and played with the idea of ​​things that kept coming up in the letters like ‘everything’s blown up’.

Other artists were invited to place phrases found in war letters on handkerchiefs as part of this latest exhibition, and Benton said the idea is that the handkerchiefs displayed throughout the exhibition will change constantly.

Making the show interactive was important to Benton because one of his main hopes for the show was that it would encourage viewers to find their own family connections to war and take the time to interpret the war experience as someone who didn’t experience it. themselves.

The once-before exhibition will run from October 25 to November 13 at the Cedar Hill Arts Center. This will be the last time Benton will exhibit this collection of his work, and he has decided to take advantage of it being on display on Remembrance Day by putting each piece up for sale with profits going to the Royal Canadian Legion.

@jesamansky
[email protected]
Like and follow us on Facebook Twitter.

Artsanich Veterans