The Lake Country Art Gallery is about to be filled with work from two UBC Okanagan Masters of Fine Arts students.

The exhibits will be featuring work by Tara Yadollahi and Robin Hodgson and will be open to the public from Saturday, May 24, until July 6.

Yadollahi's video installation Be in My Chador explores the idea self-censorship and personal expression. A chador is a piece of clothing typically worn by muslim women, that covers the head and upper body, leaving the face exposed. 

"I began to wonder how much of our expression is truly our own and how much is subtly influenced by the gaze of others. Clothing becomes both a shield and a language, a personal dance between form and freedom, between self and expectation," said Yadollahi about the video exhibit.

"Self-censorship lives in our body language, in the clothes we choose, and in the silent decisions we make every day."

Hodgson's collection of large-scale paintings titled Half Life, delves into their personal experiences as an individual who has lived life as both an able-bodied and disabled person.  

The year 2023, marked a point in Hodgson's life where they had lived equal amounts of time able-body as they had disabled, which prompted them to create pieces that have now been echoed in Half Life. The pieces were created using technical devices to overcome barriers posed by a society that is not made to accommodate people with disabilities, said Hodgson.

"Despite the physical barriers or mental tolls of navigating a world that wasnÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™t built for wheelchairs, there is a beauty in the resilience and a comedy in the struggle. I believe this to be a universal truth for all life, and aim to emphasize this in my new body of work."

On Saturday, May 24, at 1 p.m., an opening reception will take place where those interviews on the displays can also meet the artists. 

The Lake Country Art Gallery is located at 10356A Bottom Wood Lake Road.