As wildfires become a common part of the summer landscape, the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie‘s latest exhibit explores fire through the perspectives of two artists.

Fire Season, the latest exhibit at the AGGP, explores wildfires through Robert Guest‘s paintings and Megan Green‘s work, which reflects on the 2016 Horse River wildfire that led to the destruction of nearly 2,400 buildings in the region.

“A big part of what I’m trying to do in this show is look at both of the artists’ interest in this topic from very different angles,” said Jessica Groome, AGGP executive director and curator of Fire Season.

The show was intentionally scheduled during the wildfire season to give viewers a different perspective.

She said Guest worked in fire lookout towers in the Grande Cache area and painted his memories of the fires from the 1960s to the 1990s.

Groome said Green’s experience stems from her time during the 2016 Horse River wildfire, which resulted in the evacuation of 88,000 residents.

“Green spent a lot of time in Fort McMurray as a young adult, and she also worked in the oil and gas industry, and so a lot of her work kind of deals with this really nuanced experience of being part of that industry, but also as seeing a lot of the problems with it at the same time,” said Groome.

“She incorporates a lot of materials based on petroleum byproducts, so plastic and acrylic paint, a plastic-based paint, and a recurring element that she uses is actual pieces of melted plastic from bus shelters that were found on site in Fort McMurray.”

Groome says the gallery wants to ensure its exhibits and artists are relevant to the region and its residents.

“I really hope that there’s something meaningful and memorable for residents and visitors to see the show, to think a little bit more about the wildfire cycle and where we are today,” she said.

Fire Season is the second exhibit in a series of gallery pairings, featuring an artist from the gallery’s permanent collection and an artist connected to northern Alberta.

“By pairing an artist like Guest with somebody like Green, I think it is pretty evident in the way the show comes together that there are surprises in the connections or the disconnections between their work,” said Groome.

Fire Season is on display until Sept. 28 at the gallery.