Gary Aylward’s paintings begin on the west coast of Vancouver Island. During storm season, he returns to the shores around Ucluelet, puts on his hip waders and heads into the surf with his camera. He is looking for those brief moments when water, wind and light come together, knowing that the wave in front of him will break and disappear within seconds.

That fleeting moment is at the heart of Aylward’s work. There is something very human about wanting to hold onto an experience we know cannot be repeated. A wave exists for only a few seconds, but through the much slower process of painting, Aylward gives that moment a kind of permanence.

The places are real and the observations are his own, but the finished paintings are about more than the Pacific. They speak to our instinct to remember and preserve the things that move us, and to hold onto something even as it is disappearing.