Kaleidoscopic Imagery: The Art Portfolio of Amber MacGregor
Flowering (detail), graphite on archival paper
Amber MacGregor was born in Edmonton, AB, and now lives and works in Victoria, BC. In her artistic practice, Amber often utilizes kaleidoscopic imagery, lending a surreal, abstracted edge to traditional portraiture.
Kaleidoscoped Self Portrait, acrylic on wood panel
In some of Amber’s recent works, the artist has been exploring themes of digital technology and how its use relates to and effects such expansive systems as marine life and outer space. The artist’s works in this series take on a slightly surreal edge, drawing from aesthetics that Amber has favoured previously, as well as some novel techniques. In works like Finding and Flowering, Amber juxtaposes human figures with detailed images from nature, while in others like Aristotle’s Lantern she takes an approach that’s stylistically quite different, but cohesive in its dreamlike atmosphere.
The front page of Amber's portfolio website
It’s interesting to browse through Amber’s art portfolio and see how the artist effortlessly shifts from this surreal, dreamlike composition style into more traditional, straightforward modes of portraiture, displaying skill with each.