Newzones is thrilled to announce Prism Rooms, a new solo exhibition of work by Calgary-based visual artist and academic Megan Dyck.

Drawing from aesthetics of dream pop and New Romantic music and dance subcultures, Megan Dyck’s latest body of figurative paintings features disembodied faces engrossed in states of euphoria and limerence. Merging two of her abiding artistic obsessions: direct gaze in portraiture and Paul Klee’s theory of polyphonic color, Dyck’s images are a dual meditation on the enigmatic nature of the human face and the perceptual phenomena of chromesthesia—where sound evokes color. Situated in unbound fields of color, these images harken hazy dance floor encounters, synth sounds, sequined skin, and semi-trance states. Sensuous, atmospheric, and submerged in sparkling reverb, Dyck’s paintings are informed by a collage sensibility where preliminary photomontages function as reference images that are later painted in sections to form a cinematic mosaic of floating visages. This mise-en-scène of deconstructed portraits conjures both intimate and psychedelic interactions.

Dyck holds a BFA in Painting from AUArts and earned an MFA in Visual Arts at the University of Victoria. In addition to her own studio practice, Dyck has worked as an educator and researcher for the last 10 years, the majority of which have been at AUArts (formerly ACAD), teaching drawing, painting and colour theory. Dyck has been awarded Individual Faculty Research Grants from the AUArts Professional Affairs Committee in 2017, 2022 and 2023, and the Visual Arts Individual Project Grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.