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Year Created

2022

Year Acquired

2023

Surfaces

Wood panel

Cultures

Canadian

Medium

Oil paint

Art Forms

Painting

Ghost Town

by: Chelsea Gauvin


During the covid-19 pandemic, I started going for long walks around the city to pass the time since I was out of work. On these walks, I found myself overcome by vivid memories associated with different spaces throughout my hometown of Moncton. Familiar streets, parks, cafes, alleyways, the train tracks we used to walk to reach downtown. In an instant, I was transported back to a particular place in time. Pleasantly haunted by the past, I found refuge in nostalgia.

The space depicted in Ghost Town was once a bustling Bed & Breakfast, yet it now sits vacant like a ghostly reminder of what once was. This painting explores memory and the desire to express it visually. Numerous thin layers of paint were applied and over-blended. Details were washed over, and the contours of the structure softened to achieve a ghostlike quality. A thick application of white paint depicts a heavy coat of snow in the foreground, distancing the viewer from its focal point, mirroring the space between then and now.

Small chelsea gauvin Chelsea Gauvin

Gauvin earned a BFA from NSCAD University, Halifax, NS in 2014. Since moving back to her hometown she has taken part in solo and group exhibitions, collaborations, and painted an outdoor mural with Festival Inspire. Additionally, she worked in film and television in the art department as a set painter and has been published in a local literary magazine.

Her portfolio showcases a strong inclination towards material exploration. Though primarily a painter in oil and acrylic, Chelsea enjoys pottery and repurposing found materials to create mixed media collage. Her art is included in the City of Moncton’s Collection of Fine Arts and collectionArtNB.

She is currently represented by Apple Art Gallery. 

Frequently Ask Questions

collectionArtNB currently has approximately 960 pieces of artwork in our collection. These have been acquired throughout the past 50 years.

Applications must be emailed to culture@gnb.ca.

Due to the volume of applications received, we don’t provide individual confirmation of receipt but you will receive an automated email confirmation. You may contact our reception desk to check confirmation of receipt by email culture@gnb.ca or call (506) 453-2555.

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