“Ice Shacks” by Shawn Moreton

“Ice Shacks” by Shawn Moreton
Galerie Old Chelsea, Chelsea, Quebec
October 18 to November 6, 2024 - Wednesday to Saturday noon to 6 pm; Sunday noon to 5 pm
Vernissage: Saturday October 19 - 1 to 4 pm

Galerie Old Chelsea is delighted to present the Ice Shack project, capturing a well-loved piece of Canadiana, a cultural archive of life in the North. Moreton’s images, composed in a minimalist style, express feelings of solitude and chosen isolation, a feeling that is shared and appreciated by Canadians and the peoples of other Northern countries.

When winter comes, the ice shacks begin to appear on the frozen ice of lakes & rivers in Canada.

To capture these photographs, Shawn dons his Nordic skis, and heads out onto the ice with his camera.

“Sometimes I find a solitary shack miles from any other, other times l come across a whole cluster of them, like a tiny village on a barren landscape.” explains Shawn Moreton. “I love the quiet solitude of being out on the ice, alone with the sound of my skis and the wind to keep me company.

When I'm out there, alone on the ice, I'm fully present and all of my senses are fully engaged, feeling the wind or the biting snow on my face but with the contrasting warmth of the sun.”

The process of creating these images is just as important and rewarding as the photographs Shawn creates Each excursion is, in a way, a small adventure into the wilderness.

As the climate warms, however, Shawn recognized that the winter ice becomes thinner and the ice shacks become a lifestyle under threat. And so he wants to capture the imagery of this beautiful and traditional winter activity.

Moreton believes that photographers and all artists have the ability to see the world in a new light. As Proust famously said "The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

Galerie Old Chelsea is a collective of regional artists located in the beautiful Gatineau Hills above award-winning Les Fougères restaurant situated at 783 route 105, Chelsea, Québec, J9B1P1.

www.galerieoldchelsea.ca; Facebook: Galerie Old Chelsea (on Route 105, not on Scott) &

Instagram. For information contact Anne Swiderski at Swiderski.anne@gmail.com 819 827 8504.