Lou Lynn speaks at the “Skillful” exhibition’s opening night. Photo: Clea Haugo / Courtesy: Kelowna Art Gallery
Artist’s non-functional “functional” objects featured in Kelowna exhibition
by Galadriel Watson
“Imagine this tossed salad of excellence.” That’s how West Kootenay-based artist Lou Lynn describes the exhibition “Skillful,” running at the Kelowna Art Gallery from June 13 to October 25, 2026.
It’s an apt metaphor, given that a few of the items displayed on the walls are utensils—a spoon that could be used to serve salad, a fork that could be used to eat it—except these ones are oversized, exaggerated and made of bronze and glass. Not something you’d actually find in your kitchen.
“Through their skill, concepts and material ingenuity, they push the boundaries of their chosen mediums.”
The “excellence” part is also correct. A long-established and widely exhibited artist, Lynn has her work arranged here alongside those of tapestry artist Jane Kidd and ceramics artist Greg Payce—and they’re each winners of Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts.
“All three artists have honed their craft over a lifetime,” says Clea Haugo, curator of the exhibition. “In their own ways, their works play with ideas of perception, illusion and scale. Through their skill, concepts and material ingenuity, they push the boundaries of their chosen mediums.”
An example of Lou Lynn’s work (foreground) at the “Skillful” exhibition. Courtesy: Kelowna Art Gallery
Experimentation in the Kootenays
Born in Edmonton, Lynn moved to the Kootenays in the early ’70s, finding herself in Nelson, and then Hills, and then staying put in Winlaw for 45 years. Now it’s time for Nelson again, complete with a house and studio, but where the size of the garden won’t be as taxing.
It was in the 1980s that she began experimenting with glass, attending the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington, co-founded by Dale Chihuly. Soon, she began incorporating metal and other materials into her art, forming the foundation for the utensils and tools featured in “Skillful.”
“For quite a while, my work has referenced functional—but nonfunctional—objects,” she says.
Examples of Lou Lynn’s work at the “Skillful” exhibition. Courtesy: Kelowna Art Gallery.
Examples of Lou Lynn’s work at the “Skillful” exhibition. Photo: Blake Vanderheyden / Courtesy: Kelowna Art Gallery
Elevating craft
It was Lynn and Kidd who came up with the idea for “Skillful”—an exhibition that invites reflection on the enduring significance of craft in a digital age, made tangible through the disparate items of the participating artists.
“The ‘Skillful’ exhibition is a conversation about the value of hand-making as a vital contemporary expression of culture, history and our humanity.”
“It seemed like before COVID, there were opportunities, and after COVID, everything slowed down,” Lynn says. “Jane and I put our heads together and said, ‘Perhaps we should think about doing a show together.’”
The Kelowna Art Gallery was on board, and so was Payce, who rounded out the crafts—textiles and glass/bronze/mixed media—with ceramics.
“The ‘Skillful’ exhibition is a conversation about the value of hand-making as a vital contemporary expression of culture, history and our humanity,” says Haugo. “Given that all three artists have been decorated at the highest level in fine craft in Canada, we were very enamoured with the idea.”
While the items Lynn is showing appear familiar, they’re definitely not useable. In addition to the reimagined utensils—glass handles impractical, bronze heads not food-safe—there are tools like a wool comb. Originally meant to prepare wool so it can be spun into yarn, this one has tines of glass that could never suitably do the job.
As Lynn notes on her website: “I see my sculpture as an investigation of the archaeology of daily life, exploring both form and material, to create contemporary objects that have an implied reference to once-familiar tools, utensils and functional objects.”
At the same time, she is establishing a dialogue between dissimilar materials like bronze and glass, examining the tension between fragility and strength.
Examples of Lou Lynn’s work at the “Skillful” exhibition. Courtesy: Kelowna Art Gallery.
Advice for small-community artists
Lynn has managed all of this from her home base in rural West Kootenay. And is this a good place for artists to be, especially aspiring ones?
“Oh, I think so,” she says.
“Get familiar with what other kind of work is out there, and be very much committed to excellence and getting your work ready so that it stands out above the rest.”
But her opinion has been shaped by her many years of teaching marketing to art students at the Kootenay School of the Arts in Nelson. “People have to be prepared to work hard. Get familiar with what other kind of work is out there, and be very much committed to excellence and getting your work ready so that it stands out above the rest.”
However, she comments, “I love living where I do. The Kootenays are a beautiful place to live in. The challenge is always how to make a living here. But it can be done.
“I’ll end with that.”
