A mother-son duo’s creativity has taken over the Upper and Lower Sisnett lobbies at the Halton Hills Cultural Centre.
The works of Barbara Ariss-Stroh-Wasser and Derek Ariss comprise the Between Generations: Abstract Expressions exhibit, which explores the intersection between creativity and artificial intelligence.
The show – on display until April 6 – can be viewed as an abstract visual conversation between mother and child, perhaps even sparking a dialogue between viewers.
While Ariss said AI can mimic many artistic techniques, “ultimately it’s still about how people relate to it (art) and how they react to it, and that’s where the technology still isn’t there.”
Growing up, the family home was one where creativity flourished for Ariss and his brother, Obadiah.
Both mother and son’s works on display are, in a sense, a timeline of their art careers that began decades ago.
The duo – both members of the Credit Valley Artisans and Fine Arts Society of Milton – has collaborated on many exhibits.
In one of the first instances, Ariss contributed pieces to a showcase of his mother’s works in Australia, where he was living at the time. Ariss-Stroh-Wasser visited her son yearly, in a sense, treating his new home as her own. This augmentation of each other’s works continues in Singapore, where Ariss now lives.
Arris is a faculty member at the Singapore Management University. So it should come as no surprise that two of his works on display are called Singapore: Botanical Gardens and Singapore: Heat All Year.
Meanwhile, Ariss-Stroh-Wasser continues her tradition of using flowing lines to make abstract works. Examples on display include her New Pathways CRISPR series, as well as conveying emotions in a triptych called Mood Swings.
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