January Gallery:
This month The Carrot Gallery will feature the L’hiver | Pipon | (zyma) Visual Arts Gallery
Visit this special January exhibition featuring artwork by several local Francophone, Indigenous, and Ukrainian artists.
Artists:
Oksana Zhelisko Classically trained in Eastern Europe, Oksana began her career as an artist in L'viv, Ukraine. Oksana entered the Ivan Trush College of Decorative Arts in 1996. There, she studied all aspects of art and decided to make painting, especially of murals, her major. In 2001, she held her first solo exhibition at the L'viv University of Ivan Franko. It was in preparing her works for this show that she realized she had a love for the medium of oil. She finds that the truest hues are to be found in this medium due to its prolonged drying time and its ease in mixing. She finds it best to begin her work, not on a crisp, blank canvas, but on one that has been coloured, and or stained to allow her chosen medium to release its inner beauty and charm. Although aptly able to capture any image with an artist's eyes, Oksana's work as of late has revolved around the theme of woman in various stages, poses, and emotions. She equates her disdain of starting on a blank canvas to that of simply painting woman as an exercise in figure. In her view, woman is neither crisp nor blank, but coloured and tinged; each being an image or an iconoclast that is warm, or perhaps cold, but always strong, alluring, full of mystique, and of course, true inner beauty. Her most recent works are displayed in Webster Gallery, Calgary. She currently resides in Edmonton.
Candace Makowichuk professional visual artist, arts educator and arts administrator, specializes in alternative photographic processes and techniques for her artwork. She works with a variety of photographic materials and printing proceses including: gum bichromate, cyanotype, tin type, gel and other transfer processes, multiple image printing, handpainting, and mixed media. Candace has extensive experience in educating the public on the importance and impact the visual arts have on our community and lives. Through workshops and residencies on historical photographic processes she has instilled a renewed interest in non-digital and historical photography.
Her education includes Art & Design from the University of Alberta, Photographic Technology from NAIT, Arts & Cultural Management from Grant MacEwan and various workshops. Her work is represented in public collections within Alberta, private collections within Canada and exhibitions throughout the province.
Theodora Harasymiw is Visual Artist and Art Educator working in Edmonton, Canada. In addition to working in her studio she has been working as an Artist in Residence since 1997. Working with schools I develop art programs which culminate in a permanent installation...
MJ Belcourt Moses Melissa-Jo Belcourt Moses comes from a rich Métis ancestry and possesses a wealth of cultural skills acquired from Métis and Aboriginal elders throughout northern and central Alberta. As a certified instructor, she has taught decorative arts and creative skills within the Native Cultural art programs on Native reserves and Métis settlements. A deep connection to her roots is the inspiration for much of her artwork and ongoing research in developing in others an appreciation for the Métis contribution to our country’s homeland. In 2006 Belcourt Moses was invited to represent Alberta cultural heritage in Washington DC for the 49th annual Folk Life Festival. Belcourt Moses was also given the Aboriginal Role Model of Alberta Art Award in 2009 for her work as an Artisan and as a recognized cultural art instructor.
Curtis Johnson My name is Curtis Johnson and as you might have guessed I'm an artist who loves hockey. From realism to abstract, I try to explore the many facets of our national obsession. I also create paintings that have nothing to do with Hockey – these abstracts represent my experience growing up on the Canadian prairie.
Jaye Benoit invokes artistic expression as a gateway to self-understanding, and ultimately seeks societal evolution. Her work is a searching for the place where the tangible and intangible meet, to express a value that has been lost in our time.
Jaye holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from the university of alberta, with a focus on painting and drawing. Her studio practice includes painting, mixed-media works, and installations, which are exhibited throughout canada, and are in private collections in canada, the usa, and the united kingdom. Jaye provides instruction and mentorship for artists of all ages and abilities, and has been involved in the development of many community events and artistic initiatives.
A born artist and yogi, jaye practices and instructs sattva yoga as a foundation to her life’s work. She resides in Airdrie, Alberta with her husband and two feline friends.
Rebecca Pickard
