A Unique Impression: Painting by Meghan Sims
Midnight Moonlight, acrylic on canvas
Meghan Sims is a visual artist from Kitchener, Ontario. The artist’s practice is informed by her own visual perception -- born with achromatopsia, Meghan is colourblind and extremely light-sensitive, two conditions that lend to a unique impression of the world.
The works in Meghan’s portfolio are striking for their heavy use of dark pigment and silhouetted forms, contrasted with moments of light, representative of both man-made lights and natural phenomena. The artist’s urban scenes especially remind me of works by Dennis Ekstedt, with their relatively streamlined, high-contrast compositions. Meghan’s paintings offer a fascinating meditation on how perceptions of reality can vary between individuals.
I really love the artist’s White Series, especially viewed alongside the very dark, black-heavy compositions elsewhere in her portfolio. These pieces -- comprising compositions of mostly flat white with sparse details rendered in shades of grey -- appear to represent the artist’s daytime vision, and showcase a world bathed in blinding brightness.
