The Arts Matter
“With attitudes ranging from the microscopic to the cartographic, the seven artists of The Flower may not Look like the Roots1 cultivate contemporary relationships to landscape, ecology2, and regional identity that respond to local communities past, present and future. “
Small Works Show
30 smaller paintings together for the first time
From the Water’s Edge
Water unifies this landscape exhibit, all but two.
A special partnership with the Saskatchewan German Council. Toured through OSAC’s Arts on the Move program.
Scherenschnitte (scissor cuts) is an art form where silhouettes are cut from one piece of special black paper with scissors or knives with no ‘hangers’- unattached pieces. Scissor cutting has a long history in German folk art; immigrants brought Scherenschnitte to North America in the 17th Century. Reflecting the Canadian artists in Scissor Cuts/ Scherenschnitte, this collection of works ranges from traditional German Scherenschnitte represented by Waltraude Stehwien, a German immigrant, to papercut evolved into sculpture by Jess Richter- second generation born in Canada.
Friday, October 1, 2021 to Saturday, October 23, 2021
Shurniak Art Gallery
Employing creativity to express a landscape, scene and image with cut paper requires precision in drawing as well as dexterity of cutting. Stehwien prefers scissors as they ‘bite’ the paper; designing her pieces by drawing out her complete design, reworking it on the back of the traditional black paper before making any cuts. While Stehwien enjoys the challenging restrictions of traditional Scherenschnitte, Richter explores all that paper can do. Richter, preferring the Exacto knife, works more organically, creating pieces for her sculptures as she goes. Neither artist likes using computers in their art. In Stehwien’s opinion “Computers are remote. Art is sensual.” Richter reluctantly learned computer drafting for her MFA degree from the UofR but prefers the ‘tactileness’ of pencil (or knife) to paper.
Presently residing in Regina Saskatchewan, Shannon Bigknife is an emerging presence in the Canadian art world. Being self-taught and using intuition as her guide, her pieces have a raw
openness about them. She displays a distinct point of view which expresses the beauty of the
human spirit in its most vulnerable and magical forms.
Shurniak Gallery’s stunning photography collection
View works by Larry Adamache, Wanda Knoss, Wayne Boland and Ken Dalgarno, some “out of the vault” for the first time.
Enjoy florals, landscapes, and Badlands images printed on stretched canvas, paper, and aluminum.
English watercolourist David Paskett lived in Hong Kong from 1986 to 1990. Shurniak Art Gallery is pleased to present this assortment of paintings collected by Bill Shurniak during his time in Hong Kong. Images of traditional Chinese life make compelling subjects, complete with astonishingly vivid details.
TREK THE OUTBACK….without leaving Saskatchewan!
Over 50 Australian art pieces from the Shurniak permanent collection are on display this summer!
Large-scale aboriginal dot paintings from the Australian outback show a unique world view. Dreamtime storytelling teaches lessons about life, such as birth, hunting, love, food gathering, and death. These “Stories of the Dreaming” are handed down through generations by Elders, and explain life, and how the world was created.
In aboriginal artwork, traditional symbols keep this ancient culture alive. A carved didgeridoo, decorated boomerang, and many other wooden items used in daily life in the desert are also available to view. These authentic Australian aboriginal items were purchased by Bill Shurniak during a trip to remote Alice Springs, Northern Territory, in 2003.
