The Lost, 2008 by Kim Dorland
Kim Dorland
The Lost, 2008
oil and acrylic on canvas
signed, titled and dated 2008 on the reverse; unframed
60 x 72 in ( 152.4 x 182.9 cm )
Auction Estimate: $20,000.00 - $30,000.00
Price Realized $18,000.00
Sale date: November 27th 2024
Acquired directly from the Artist
Private Collection, Portland, Oregon
Katerina Atanassova, Robert Enright and Jeffrey Spalding, "Kim Dorland", Vancouver/Kleinburg, 2014, page 120
Famously appearing in the work of Tom Thomson, one of Dorland’s favourite artists, the northern lights make for compelling subject matter. Dorland has also witnessed the natural phenomena in person: “We would spend a month or two every year in my wife’s family cabin in northern Saskatchewan. I don’t go deep into the landscape, or hunt, or anything like that. But every time I was there, I would take hundreds of photographs and bring back the experience with me. There’s a painting from 2007 of the northern lights that is a direct experience in nature.” Painted in 2008, "The Lost" continues his investigation of this motif. In "The Lost", the dark sky contrasts with the eerie glow of the lights, which flow in tendrils above the nocturnal scene. Aloof figures, themselves highlighted with neon orange and pink, stand gathered yet isolated. The painting's surface is brashly littered with sculptural mounds of oil paint, squeezed directly from the tube. Ominous, spiky trees line the horizon, placing the setting in or near a mysterious forest. The word “lost” has repeatedly appeared in Dorland’s titles, likely referring both to the physical and psychological sense of the word. The painting creates a formal and emotional tension between harmony and unease.
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Kim Dorland
(1974)
A native of Wainwright, Alberta, Dorland relies heavily on his tumultuous experiences growing up, translating into works that challenge preconceived notions of the Canadian wilderness. He studied at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver before earning his MFA at York University in Toronto in 2003. Dorland was also an artist-in-residence at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in 2014.
With an emphasis on demystifying the idea of terra nullius—the void, pristine, virgin land often idealized by historical Canadian painting and art history—the artist often incorporates contemporary figures and objects in a rugged environment emphasizing one's place in the landscape. Dorland works in a variety of media, including neon pigments, spray paint and even inkjet technologies. Works often include hidden symbols and references to the relationship humans have on the landscape they inhabit. Graffiti, cars, toys and modern infrastructure populate Dorland’s landscapes, making a contemporary comment on the traditionally barren Canadian landscape throughout art history. In each work, strong formal elements of line, contrast, and colour figure prominently to create visually complex imagery. In doing this, the artist forms a dialogue with celebrated twentieth century Canadian painting technique rather than a rejection of tradition.
As one of Canada's leading contemporary painters, Dorland exhibits frequently in Canada from coast to coast at the institution and gallery level with regular art fair participation in Toronto and New York. His works are part of the collections of The Art Gallery of Alberta, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Bank of Montréal, Royal Bank of Canada, and The Glenbow Museum among many other private and international collections.
