Cycles of Decay and Renewal

Cheryl Taves is a visual artist from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Working in mixed media painting on panel and drawing and painting on Mylar, her interest is in the nuanced language of abstraction.

The act of relationship, specifically areas of growth and dissolution, informs Cheryl’s work. Moving between direct and indirect paint applications, layers of applied papers and abraded surfaces, her work explores the elements of structure and gesture, allowing for an edgy tension and elegance to coexist, exuding a certain gritty beauty. 

Cheryl graduated from the Victoria College of Art in 2004. During that time, along with three other contemporary artists, Cheryl established The Store Studio, an artist-run studio and gallery space in downtown Victoria. There she exhibited a diverse body of work consisting of drawing, painting, and sculpture. This breadth of experience secured Cheryl representation by both the Fran Willis Gallery and the View Art Gallery in Victoria, along with Atti Gallery in Toronto.

In 2014 Cheryl completed a 7 month Mentorship Program with California artist Nicholas Wilton. During that time she re-ignited her passion for the creative process and began working as a Creativity Coach, helping artists to connect more deeply to their authentic expression and build a supportive art practice for themselves. Through 2016 to 2018, Cheryl joined the Art2life Team and began working with hundreds of artists through the Creative Visionary Program, an Art2life intensive 12-week online program. She also offers creativity coaching for artists and online programs through her complementary business, Insight Creative.

Cheryl is a long-standing member of a weekly critical discussion group led by painter Bill Porteous, with a focus on abstraction, providing critical feedback and dialogue around her work and the work of her contemporaries. These in-depth discussions in art-making continue to strengthen Cheryl’s engagement with abstraction and the creative position that informs her work. 

Her home studio is a light-filled space located in a rural community just outside of Victoria, situated in the nature that influences her work. The cycles of decay and renewal offer reminders of recurrent themes that occupy her formal concerns – change, growth, deconstruction and reconstruction.

Cheryl is current represented by the Jorge Mendez Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona.