This local exhibition united artists from across Canada

A new exhibition at Kelowna Art Gallery aims to highlight the transformative spaces that artists create.

Significant Forms features the installation-based artwork of seven contemporary Canadian artists: Wally Dion, Wanda Lock, Zachari Logan, Amanda McCavour, Samuel Roy-Bois, Andreas Rutkauskas, and Sami Tsang.

These artists were brought together by exhibition curator Christine May, to create a presentation that challenges the prescribed norms and conventions of a traditional exhibition.

Through painting, drawing, embroidery, installation, and sculpture, the artists have re-imagined how audiences interact with their art.

“What makes them spectacular is that not only do they work really successfully in their own mediums,” May told Kelowna10. “But they really push the boundary of shape and form and installation.”

As visitors step into the gallery, they first encounter artist Samuel Roy-Bois's monumental installation, The Garden.

Constructed from lumber, drywall sheets, and metal fastenings, this work delves into the complexity of gardens as intricate systems and explores the symbiosis between architecture and our understanding of the world.

“I think it's a slower paced exhibition, despite how much is in here,” May said. “It's really an opportunity for people to spend the time, sit down and think about what they’re taking in.”

Kelowna-based artist Andreas Rutkauskas's Silent Witnesses focuses on the aftermath of the 2023 McDougall Creek Wildfire that destroyed over 200 homes and a massive tract of forested land in West Kelowna, documenting the ecological effects of forest fires, where trees become improvised sculptural forms through a series of hauntingly beautiful photographs.

Regina-based artist Zachari Logan is known internationally for his large-scale pastel drawings that examine ideas around masculinity, identity, memory, and place. For Significant Forms, he completed a new work titled Persephone Triptych, which sees his complex 2D drawings transcend into the sculptural realm and explore the interconnectedness of human relationships and the natural world.

“It's always fascinating to be involved in a group show,” Logan said. “To see the threads of things throughout different works, and how artists are working similarly, and also in very different ways with installation is really fascinating for me.”

Artist Wally Dion's two prints titled Prairie Braids have been transformed into sculptural objects for the exhibition. Viewers will encounter the prints hanging at eye-level, suspended from chains fixed to the ceiling—powerful and intimate portraits that address the pervasive issue of police brutality against Indigenous populations in Canada.

By uniting seven influential contemporary artists from across the country, Significant Forms weaves together differing aesthetic threads to form a rich tapestry for audiences to discover.

The exhibition runs from March 2 to June 9, 2024 at Kelowna Art Gallery.