Barrie Szekely’s painting practice grew from wondering what to do with this stuff in a tube. All its abundance of tools and sauces. “I love the challenges it provides in making an image. I seem to gravitate towards the contradictions of dualities such as a cloud becoming animated (aka pareidolia). I am interested in that middle space when something is itself rather than something else. The mixing of abstraction with representation, along with spatial contradictions, is an ongoing presence in my work. I choose oil paint because it allows me to be noncommittal, to add and remove, to ask: ‘what if I did this?’ I love the smell of oil paint, its drying time and its messiness. I believe in work makes work. Working on multiple individual panels is a common occurrence in my practice. Multiple panels slow down my decision making, providing a time to reflect.”
 
Barrie Szekely had the privilege of attending the University of Regina (BFA), The Banff Centre (Winter and Spring Residencies), and University of Victoria (MFA).