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Vikki Drummond

Vikki Drummond

From early childhood Vikki has been exploring her creative side, opting for crayons and paints over dolls.  As a teenager she mostly focused on drawing skills. The art of shadowing and infusing light with a charcoal pencil formed the foundation for her future work.

Post-secondary prompted a sensible choice and Vikki enrolled in a Business Administration program which led to a two-decade career in Sales and Marketing. While her beloved art was on hold, Vikki met her adorable husband and together they owned and operated several restaurants and a bar; raised a son and daughter and three mutts.

Vikki never lost her love of gummy bears, strawberry lip gloss and daily trips down rabbit holes to colourful worlds she yearned to explore. In 2000 she took a part-time position with a Fashion House. The work fueled a passion for costume and expressive dressing and inspired her to take her whimsical side more seriously.

She sold her first painting in 2012 and began working as a professional artist.

In 2020 Vikki and her husband downsized to beautiful downtown Victoria BC, where the cry of the gulls and the briny kiss of ocean air inspired Vikki in mystical ways. She brings a belief in both the beauty and the absurdity of our human world to the canvas, convening with magical creatures and dark monsters in equal measure. 

She realized a lifelong dream when she opened her own studio in historic Fan Tan Alley. Her pieces have been selected for public display by the City of Victoria, featured on a beer can label with Bones Brewery, and collected as far away as Australia, Saudi Arabia, Europe and New York.

She is thrilled to be represented by Gallery Merrick in Victoria, BC and delighted to welcome the public into her cozy studio (just a stone's throw from Gallery Merrick).  Stop by and say hello. Oh, and bring some gummy bears or maybe those strawberry marshmallow candies, slightly stale, when you do.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Boy

I operate from an emotional place.  I begin with an idea that becomes an urge to create.  I paint as an outlet for an overabundance of feelings.  As a child I drew and coloured to quell overwhelming sensations.  Now I paint to understand this absurd, beautiful world and my place in it. In this series, “Boy” I excavate the cabaret scene in the city of Berlin during the late 1920’s and early 1930’s just before Hitler took power.  In this time of social decay, there was a hedonistic subculture that willfully lived in the moment.  After reading a fictional book by Christopher Isherwood called “Goodbye to Berlin” I became captivated by the “Kit kat boys” of the club scene.  I am interested in how imagination and impression are processed into visual form.  I have loved a good story since I was a young girl enthralled by faerie tales.  Now its my practice to read a book and use my imagination to further that tale with paint.  There is no escaping how each of us brings our own lived experiences into how we “see” the world.  Those interwoven emotions and patterns that define our perceptions.  As a mother who is estranged from her own beloved son I found myself hyper-focussing on these young men and projecting all of the longing and ache of his absence onto them.  I identify with the coexisting factors of innocence and reckless abandon in these figures which I witnessed in my own boy.  This series of portraits is a cautionary tale of what we choose to see and what we choose to ignore - a struggle on repeat loop for our world.  I strive to suggest the transient nature of childhood and all of it’s inherent vulnerabilities. But there’s also an important element of celebration, an homage to the beauty of the boy.  There is a quiet energy to the work, a thoughtful introspective feeling that embodies the innocent side of coming of age.  Then there is that careless feeling of immortality that we have all felt in our youth - the mirth and the madness of being young.  I have found a visual rhythm with these boys.  We celebrate the women and the female form all the time in the arts.  I think its timely to provide a representation of the young man - through a female gaze. Unfolding this personal vision is a way for me to acknowledge our son and the many others who struggle with belonging.   It enables this idea of labour as a form of love.

My process always involves several layers, intuitive marks and colour fields to allow for a sense of depth in the finished work.  I then look for an entry point into the figurative image; often removing as much as I add to the substrate.  Though I may incorporate a horizon line, the imagery is usually surrounded by an abstract background.  The resulting effect is a floating figure without the context of a concrete setting.  By creating space around the form I attempt to lift any heaviness from the composition - and the heart.  

My work Identifies a continuous dialogue between figuration and abstraction.  In the thoughtful, deliberate construction of the drawing and the emotional energy of the brush stroke the paintings become a snapshot of a moment in time and enchant the viewer to imagine the story behind it. 

Ultimately my concerns, struggles and joys are similar to those around me so the hope is that I strike a chord with the viewer.  Some sense of discovery, recognition… or even discomfort.

  • The grace original Canadian art by Vikki Drummond
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    Vikki Drummond

    The grace

    $500.00

    11" x 14" Mixed media on wood panel Artist Statement  SHAPE SHIFTING A visual commentary on the curated exteriors we create and the energy of our ...

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    $500.00
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  • The warrior original Canadian art by Vikki Drummond
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    Vikki Drummond

    The warrior

    $500.00

    11" x 14" Mixed media on wood panel Artist Statement  SHAPE SHIFTING A visual commentary on the curated exteriors we create and the energy of our ...

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    $500.00
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  • You are Stardust
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    Vikki Drummond

    You are Stardust

    $700.00

    20" x 20" Mixed media on panel ARTIST STATEMENT Boy I operate from an emotional place.  I begin with an idea that becomes an urge to create.  I pai...

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    $700.00
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  • I see you original Canadian art by Vikki Drummond
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    Vikki Drummond

    I see you

    $500.00

    16" X 16" Mixed media on panel ARTIST STATEMENT Boy I operate from an emotional place.  I begin with an idea that becomes an urge to create.  I pai...

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    $500.00
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  • Pretty boy original Canadian art by Vikki Drummond
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    Vikki Drummond

    Pretty boy

    $500.00

    16" X 16" Mixed media on panel ARTIST STATEMENT Boy I operate from an emotional place.  I begin with an idea that becomes an urge to create.  I pai...

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    $500.00
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  • Fancy by Vikki Drummond
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    Vikki Drummond

    Fancy

    $1,550.00

    30" x 40" mixed media on canvas

    $1,550.00
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  • Bed of flowers by Vikki Drummond
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    Vikki Drummond

    Bed of flowers

    $1,550.00

    30" x 40" mixed media on canvas

    $1,550.00
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