A new exhibit at Union Gallery features two seemingly incompatible artists.

But when hung together, the collections reveal common themes in the aptly titled show Stories We Tell Ourselves. Fourth-year BFA students Mackenzie Browning and Heather Smith explore the mystery of unfinished narratives, which viewers must contemplate.

Smith uses numerous printing methods, including woodcut, lithography and copper-plate etching to create storybook images. Her stylized prints are a decorative, romanticized take on natural forms.

In Smith’s Into the Woods, a starry night sky and entwined tree branches give the piece endless depth and a foreboding quality. It’s not hard to imagine being swallowed up by this gateway into a fairy tale.

Smith’s smaller prints are in two unframed clusters. The focal piece of her collection, I Searched for Stories in the Land (I), occupies a large part of the gallery’s north wall. Included in the piece are two carefully carved woodblocks, which provide insight into Smith’s artistic process.

Amidst layers of inky black and pale blue are bursts of lively metallic gold and rosy inks that punctuate Smith’s pieces. The thin pages flutter, breathing life into Smith’s storybook world. Smith demands from the viewer the same attention to detail that was required to create her collection.

Browning’s work is brightly coloured, contrasting Smith’s earth-tone pallet. Wide stripes of rich purple, yellow and blue acrylic paints enliven the vintage photographs, which were transferred onto the canvasses using screen-printing.

As with Smith, Browning’s craftsmanship is evident. The images are precisely aligned, reminiscent of 1950s and 1960s pop art.

Browning collected the lost or discarded photographs, appropriating the nameless, smiling faces for his re-authored collection. He uses the works’ titles to rewrite the stories in the photographs that depict families relaxing in the outdoors.

My Father’s Friend depicts a smiling man named Charlie, reclining by a lake in the summertime. The sunbathing figure embodies the spirit of progress of the 20th-century American Dream.

But the bright colours and smiling faces are isolated in their time. Like Smith’s dark, fabled collection, there’s something eerie about the family secrets behind Browning’s images.

The mystery is increased by Browning’s installation of a camera tripod that stands at the entrance of the exhibit like an all-seeing eye.

Browning’s and Smith’s Stories We Tell Ourselves is an ambiguous reflection on how we view our lives through the fictions we create. The show encourages self-reflection on what is true in our lives and what stories we have modified to suit present-day emotional needs.

Stories We Tell Ourselves is in Union Gallery’s Main Space until Feb. 14.