The drawings of fellow Emily Carr University graduates Tony Chu and Angela Gooliaff are now on display at two Tri-City art galleries.
Their work, under the title Drawing Dialogues, is being shown at the Port Moody Arts Centre until July 8 alongside exhibits by photographers Walter Coates and Sarah Ronald, and James Kemp, a ceramic artist.
And, at Coquitlam's Evergreen Cultural Centre, the pair has teamed up for Drawing: Expanded Medium, which runs until Aug. 25, and also features pieces by Ilze Bebris, Jay Hanscom, Fae Logie, Paulo Majano, Darcy Mann and Vjeko Sager.
Having two exhibits so close together and at the same time "was not intentional," said Gooliaff, a Vancouver resident, "but it's a happy accident."
For the PoMo show, Chu had applied a few years back but pulled out. Recently, "we were driving through there and I just loved it," Gooliaff said. "I said to Tony, 'Let's apply again.' I really adore Port Moody. It's so quaint and I was really pleased we got accepted."
In Evergreen's case, Gooliaff had submitted her work in 2010 when Ellen van Eijnsbergen was the visual arts program manager. After she left, her successor, Astrid Heyerdahl, contacted Gooliaff to see if she and Chu wanted to be in a group show she was curating about drawing.
The two displays come from different perspectives, Gooliaff stressed. In Port Moody, there's a focus on storytelling while the Evergreen exhibit zeros in on the science of drawing. "It's more about what drawing can be and how you interact with it. It's definitely more physical," she said.
As for her friendship with Chu, a Richmond resident, Gooliaff said they inspire each other artistically. It was Chu who pushed her to return to her craft in 2008, after a two-year break following Emily Carr; Gooliaff did and, in 2009, attended the Banff Centre, a world-renowned arts, cultural and educational institution.
Since then, Gooliaff has exhibited her biological subjects regularly, including last year at Place des Arts in Coquitlam; this year, she will have three shows in Toronto - two of them in a group format.
"I owe a lot to him," she said of Chu. "It's a great partnership that we have."
