Kelowna, BC, artist uses canvas to share her story of addiction, homelessness and triumph – Okanagan

Lucas Macauley can now take part in his first art exhibition, showcasing the vivid colors and eye-catching images that depict a life he used to live.

“In rehab, I started painting like crazy. I think I did about 70 paintings during my time there and now it’s just a snowball, ”Macauley said.

The artist now tells the tales of his time living on the streets and his battle with drug addiction that was sparked when he was prescribed morphine after a motorcycle accident in 2011.

He was interrupted after coming to renew his prescription a day earlier. He then stepped back, turning to all the drugs he could get his hands on.

He entered rehab in December 2019 and has been painting a storm ever since.

“I think the further I get away from that scene, the more things start to get a lot clearer,” Macauley said.

“The simple fact of being able to put them [the memories] on the canvas and I can sort of see it from a different angle.

Each of his paintings is also rooted in activism.

“I think people are kind of overlooked,” Macauley said.

“[There are people who] live in terrible conditions in such a beautiful place that we walk around and we don’t realize that people are going through so much trauma and I really want to draw attention to that.

“The more people there are who know and understand what’s going on, the better, [and] we can tackle it and fix it. “

One of the pieces in the exhibit at the Rotary Center for the Arts in Kelowna was a collaboration with his brother Stephen.

“After many years of seeing his different arts in different forms, tattooing, cartooning and stuff like that… now he’s come to this culmination of those styles with purpose and meaning,” Stephen Macauley said, artist.

Some of Lucas’s paintings are temporarily housed at RCA

“I’m really excited about this exhibit at RCA because we have a number of shows about the house and heritage homes in Kelowna and that’s the other side,” said Andrew Stauffer, Rotary Center Community and Education Program. for the Arts specialist.

The exhibition, We live where no one cares to look will be at RCA from May 4 to August 26. For more information on the artist, visit his Instagram page.

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UBC Okanagan artists in the spotlight at Kelowna Art Gallery