Expressing Rhythm and Energy In 2-D Form

Denman artists Lynn Urban and Nicole Tunheim create in very different media, colour palettes, and styles, but the curators of the Denman Island Summer Art Gallery saw intriguing commonalities. At their suggestion, the two artists agreed to participate in a shared exhibit entitled Colours Dance.

“Both of their work is centred in the dance of colour and energy. While their styles are unique, the rhythm of the colours is essential to each,” says Virginia Spinney, who co-curated the show with Marion Dillon.

The artists offer two approaches to the theme.

Lynn Urban: Rhythm, Line, Colour, Form

Lynn Urban takes inspiration from music. “The principles are the same as visual art—rhythm, line, colour, form, and repetition,” she says.

Lynn spends a couple hours a day playing her violin. She also listens to music while she paints. “Mostly Baroque music—everything from Vivaldi to Corelli to Bach to Haydn, and also Spanish and Cuban music, to lively things up,” says Lynn. Both her playing and her listening influence her art.

Lynn’s prints and acrylic paintings often depict nature—the forest, whales, the ocean, loons, and salmon. “They are paintings of things, but often they verge on the abstract,” she says.

“My work over the past year has mainly focused on paintings rich in colour vibration. I have been exploring the essential elements found both in the nature that surrounds me and in the peopled side of things—my impressions and interpretations of places I’ve visited, of the festivities, the culture, and the rhythms of life,” says Lynn.

For example, some pieces in the show were inspired by a recent trip to Mexico. “I visited the museum and some excavation sites, and got excited by the pre-Columbian pottery, the clay figures and pots.”

The paintings based on the ancient pottery reflect the humour in some of those pieces, says Lynn. “Some of the designs were quite hilarious. I hope people seeing my work can laugh. People don’t need to take art too seriously. We can get humour out of it or simply feel good as we enjoy the composition and colour.”

 

Nicole Tunheim: Resonating Frequencies

Nicole Tunheim’s creative work stems from her fascination with the energy that animates all life.

“In our world there is a thread, a frequency or energy that resonates through all things, material, animal, and human. I have worked to allow these energies to showcase themselves as visual art. They often show up as strange faces with odd insights and confusing angles, but all resonate with the energy they are imparting,” she says.

Nicole’s entry to visual art came from her work as a practitioner of Reiki and Reflexology, both forms of energy healing.

“A colleague said, ‘Hey you see energy, and you can paint. You should paint people’s energy.’”

The art pieces that emerged are abstract—a portrait of the individual’s unique frequency, says Nicole. “I see energy as a colourful cascade of shapes and lines. It’s almost like the colours dance across the paper.”

She now brings this energy-based approach to a variety of subject matter, often working on paper in chalk pastel. She recently collaborated with a dance teacher to create paintings of her students performing a choreographed dance. Another piece portrays a geographic fault line on Hornby Island. And another expresses feminine power.

“For this piece, a chalk pastel drawing called Womb Warrior, I was thinking about how many women over their lives have issues with their reproductive system, and how central that can be for women’s sense of self. And this painting of a beautiful goddess figure came out of that. I use a lot of red in the painting, because we are talking about the root of ourselves, how we connect with the earth, and how we produce life.”

Whether through the rhythm of a violin bow or the pulse of unseen energies, Lynn and Nicole invite viewers into a vibrant conversation of colour and form that will intrigue anyone interested in art on Denman Island.

Colours Dance, an exhibit presenting the work of Lynn Urban and Nicole Tunheim, runs from September 4 to September 16 at the Denman Island Arts Centre, 1016 Northwest Road.

Opening reception: Thursday, September 4, 2025, 7:00 pm.

Gallery hours: Mon – Sat 11:00 am – 4:00 pm  / Sunday 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm.