Kym Greeley: The Borrowing Days

Christina Parker Gallery is pleased to announce The Borrowing Days, an Exhibition of New Work by Kym Greeley. The Artist Opening Reception is on Thursday, July 9th from 6–8pm and the Exhibition will continue until August 1st. Harpist Kira Sheppard, will play for the Opening Reception.

Kym Greeley will give an artist talk on Wednesday, July 15th at 7pm in conversation with Philippa Jones.

Download the Visual Catalogue

This project reflects on the impacts of immigration, both on the immigrant and on the communities left behind by focusing on the homes that have been abandoned or washed away, and the stories that are lost with them. My own family history and many Newfoundlanders of Indigenous, mixed and settler ancestry, have been impacted by immigration and resettlement.

My ancestors were forced to leave their communities and relations. They tried to not only survive in this unfamiliar place but to make it a home. “Home” was not just a physical structure; it was a series of adaptations, compromises, and hard-won efforts to create a sense of permanence and belonging in a world that felt constantly in flux. Communities grew, survived, thrived and just as quickly, died or were forced to resettle. As a multi-generational Newfoundlander whose family had emigrated to Newfoundland, I have always felt disconnected, in between, neither fully at home in one place nor fully removed from another. The absence of permanence and the struggle to create meaning from this instability forms a central narrative in my work.

This sense of an unsecured home is further underscored when I compare the rooted houses in Ireland nestled into the land, with those in Newfoundland precariously perched upon impermeable rock. In Ireland, nature often integrates with the buildings, the locally sourced stone walls and the verdant landscapes are deeply intertwined, as if the homes have grown from the earth itself. In contrast, the houses in Newfoundland, especially in rural coastal areas, seem to be more at odds with the land. The harshness of the environment, the frequent abandonment of homes, and the erosion of memories create a sense of instability and impermanence. The incongruity between the houses and the landscape of Newfoundland is visually reflected in my work, where I explore materials that evoke both rootedness and fragility.

My exploration of architectural remnants like chimneys and bricks, knots, and wallpaper, is fundamentally about uncovering these buried truths — the “bricks” of family and culture that wash up, faded but persistent, onto the shores of the present. This personal and cultural context is integral to my work as I seek to represent the voices and experiences of those who have been silenced by history.

Kym Greeley is a visual artist living in St. John’s, Newfoundland. With process as a priority in her work, Greeley uses the landscape, architecture and culture of her province to create paintings, screen prints, sculptures and videos. She graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1997, and studied at the Cooper Union School for the Advancement of Art and Science in New York in 1996.

Greeley’s work has been exhibited in publicly-funded, artist-run and commercial galleries. Collections featuring her work include the Canada Council Art Bank, Global Affairs Canada, The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and the Newfoundland Provincial Art Bank Collection. Publications such as Future Possible, The Painting Project, Folklore and Other Panics, Canadian Art Magazine, and Visual Arts News have featured her critical art practice. Within the Canadian arts community, she has served on many juries, awarding grants, residencies and awards. Greeley was a board member and active volunteer for local artist-run and publicity funded galleries such as Eastern Edge Gallery, St. Michael’s Printshop and The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery. She is Co-founder and Director of Crux Art Inc, an International Residency Program. Her paintings have been shown in Germany, Ireland, Canada and the United States and she is currently represented by Christina Parker Gallery in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Kym Greeley CV

Kym Greeley Brochure